Chuck vs Unscripted Programming
by atlee
Summary: After intercepting communications about the Intersect, team Bartowski goes undercover in the world of ... Reality TV?    Last two chapters up!
1. Chapter 1

_It's been a while since I've worked on something with an actual plot to it, so I you guys will like this one. It takes place right after 'Chuck vs. the Mask.'_

_I don't own "Chuck." If you don't believe me, check Wikipedia._

_Also, I don't own Wikipedia._

**Chapter 1**

The man crossed through the parking garage as quietly as he could. He frequently looked behind him as he warily approached the rendezvous. Occasionally he would duck behind a car or pillar, though this never fully blocked his large frame. The buzz of the lights overhead were the only sounds masking his movement, but he found himself imagining sudden noises every few moments. He glanced at his watch to confirm that is was almost 2 AM.

Finally, he saw the red sedan marking the meeting point, and silently moved towards it.

A shadowy figure appeared from a pillar, the shining light above obscuring his features.

"We need to talk," the burly man said. "This show, I can tell they're doing something. I'm not sure what, but I can tell it's wrong. You asked me to let you know if I saw anything, so here I am."

"Do you have any evidence?" the other man asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Evidence? N-no."

"That's good." The second man stepped away from the spotlight.

"You! But I thought…" the burly man backed away, but not quickly enough. The second figure brought up his arm, revealing a firearm in his hand. The sound of two bullets echoed through the garage.

"You're fired," the man said, before returning to the red sedan.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Chuck asked, briefly glancing at his surveillance partner.

"I don't know," Hannah replied. "I think she wants to buy the dishwasher, and he wants to go home and watch basketball."

"That's the best you got?" Chuck mocked her gently, as they watched the sales floor from the nerd herd desk. "See, here's what I think. He owns a specialty candle store, and he's nervous because he's about to close a deal with a high-end candlestick emporium."

"A candlestick store?" Hannah raised an eyebrow at Chuck's suggestion.

"Sure, they make their own right on the premises. It's right next to the butcher and baker on Wilshire."

Hannah smiled at Chuck, and he smiled back. "I should have seen that coming. Ok, what about her?"

"That's his secretary, and his mistress. They always have their assignations in public places."

"Assignations?"

"Sure. Who'd expect anything untoward if they keep meeting in appliance stores?"

"Not very romantic, though."

"Well they're probably sick of candlelight, so this might be a romantic atmosphere to them."

"You have a strange imagination, Chuck Bartowski."

"Well, I've seen a lot of strange things. From here at the Buy More desk," he added hastily.

"Chuck!"

The two turned around to find Morgan Grimes staring back at them. His usual happy-go-lucky face was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a stern expression currently leveled at Chuck.

"Hey Buddy, what's up?"

"Have you logged all of the Nerd Herd calls into the database yet?"

"Uh no, Morgan, not yet."

"Well maybe if you weren't spending all your time messing around with your girlfriend, you could actually get something done."

"What was that about?" Hannah asked after Morgan turned around and stalked off.

"I don't know. But at least he's taking his promotion seriously."

"Bartowski!"

"All these interruptions," Chuck sighed. This time John Casey was standing before them. Unlike Morgan, the stony expression appeared natural on Casey.

"What's up, Casey?"

"I was, uh, hoping you could give me some advice on selling TVs. I figured, you spend your life in front of them, you should know a thing or two."

"Uh, gee, thanks Casey. He's always so complimentary," Chuck said to Hannah before following the larger man towards the electronics department.

"So, are we talking plasma or LCD?"

"We're talking meeting, idiot." They quietly headed into the viewing room, and down through the hatch in the floor.

* * *

Agent Shaw and Sarah were waiting in the Castle's briefing room when Chuck and Casey arrived. Shaw nodded at the two of them, and Sarah gave Chuck a brief, pleasant smile. He could tell that it had been a busy morning at the Orange Orange, as he could see a slight strawberry-colored stain on her uniform.

Chuck sat down at an open seat at the conference table. Before any pleasantries could begin, Shaw clicked on a button on the laptop and the image of a large, muscular man appeared on screen.

"This is Jason Caul. His body was found in a parking garage in downtown LA late last night."

Feeling no flash forthcoming, Chuck looked around at his companions. Both Casey and Sarah were looking at the screen, with no recognition readable on either of their faces.

"Who is he?" Sarah asked, voicing Chuck's question.

"Caul is a television crew member. Most recently, he worked as a gaffer on several reality television programs."

Chuck snorted. "What's a gaffer anyway?" he asked. "I mean, how does one become one? Do you go to gaff school and learn to gaff things?"

Seeing three sets of impatient eyes boring down on him, Chuck quickly quieted down. He heard Casey mutter "Moron," quietly, though not quite under his breath.

"I don't understand," Sarah said. "Do we suspect him of being Ring?"

"No," Shaw replied. "In fact, he seemed to have alerted local authorities regarding what he felt were suspicious circumstances around his latest job."

"What kind of suspicious circumstances?"

"We don't know. He was supposed to meet with one of our people at that garage last night, but we were too late. His body was discovered with two bullet wounds to the chest.

"But wait," Chuck spoke up. "Why would we care about what goes on backstage at a TV show? Seems a bit outside of the CIA's usual level of interest. Is Beckman a fan or something?"

Shaw almost smiled. "Actually," he said, "our interest is because of this man." Shaw pressed another button, and the image of an older, well-dressed man appeared.

"Jack Schumacher? The reality TV producer?"

Chuck once again failed to flash, and it took him a moment to realize that it was Casey who had spoken up.

"You watch reality TV?" Sarah asked, a smile on her face.

"Of course not," Casey responded. "There are entertainment magazines in the Buy More break room," he offered in explanation.

"Ok," Sarah said. "I still don't get our concern over this."

"Some of our agents have intercepted communications from suspected Ring agents regarding the Intersect. Apparently, there is still some interest in rebuilding it."

"Which one?" Chuck asked. "The database Intersect or the Kung Fu one?"

"That remains unclear. However, some of these communications seem to have mentioned Schumacher by name. That, coupled with Caul's death, is why we're concerned."

"So we bust in and take down Schumacher," Casey said. "Sounds simple to me."

"Not just yet," Shaw answered. "We'd like to see what his interest in the Intersect is first. We want to know what their endgame is, and Schumacher may not be a Ring heavy hitter. So," he added, "we are going to go undercover."

* * *

"Don't you think that's a bit unwise?" Sarah asked. "Putting Chuck on TV hardly seems like the best way to maintain his cover."

"It won't come to that, Sarah." Chuck tried to ignore the smile he gave her. "These shows go through a long selection process when they cast. We just need to make sure we can be onsite long enough to find out what's going on, but not long enough to actually be picked for the show."

This didn't bother Chuck. He'd always wanted to be on TV, though a reality show wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind.

"But what show?" Chucked asked. "Schumacher's involved with several."

"Isn't there a show called 'The Biggest Loser?' We should send Bartowski on that." Casey flashed a malicious grin.

Before Chuck could respond, Shaw clicked on the laptop, and the screen shifted to a listing of various programs.

"Hmm," Chuck said. "Various celebrities compete to be the next mayor of Sioux City, Iowa. That won't work."

"Here's one," Shaw suggested. "Twenty beautiful women compete to be the bride of Tyler Martin." He glanced at Sarah. "You're certainly qualified for that."

"No good. Martin was involved in a previous mission. He would recognize me." Sarah looked at Shaw when she said this, so missed Chuck rolling his eyes at Shaw's suggestion.

"Fair enough." Shaw flipped through a few more listings before stopping. "Wait a minute, this could work. "Various couples go before a panel of counselors to diagnose their marital troubles," he read the words out loud. "Now that's a possibility." He regarded the three members of the team, before finally looking between Chuck and Sarah.

"What about it, you two? Can you guys be dysfunctional enough to pass muster?"

_Yes, Shaw and Hannah are both in the story. But, this will be a Chuck and Sarah story, so bear with me._

_So what do you folks think of the premise? All comments/reviews/thinly veiled insults are appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own "Chuck." I do own several shares of Orange Orange stock, however. A talking baby on TV told me to buy it. I figure I should be able to retire any day now…_

_Just a reminder, this takes place _before_ the most recent episode (3.08). Though I am assuming that Hannah and Ellie have met by this point.  
_

**Chapter 2**

"So," Agent Shaw approached Sarah as she prepared to return to her Orange Orange duties. "Dinner tonight?"

"Oh. Tonight? It sounds nice, but I should probably get ready for tomorrow. It's a pretty complicated cover, so we're going to need to lay a lot of groundwork."

"That's too bad. I just heard about this place that's supposed to have the best sizzling shrimp."

Sarah looked up briefly and smiled.

"Well you're probably right. We've got a lot of work to do for the mission. Still, I'm not sure he's as concerned about establishing the cover." Shaw pointed at the monitor that was currently focused on the Buy More floor.

Sarah looked over to see the somewhat grainy view of Chuck and Hannah laughing together by the Nerd Herd desk. She gave Shaw a nonchalant shrug as he headed back upstairs.

A moment later, she carefully adjusted the volume.

"…zis microwave is all wrong! Nein nein!" Sarah could see Chuck gesticulating wildly.

"Really?" Hannah laughed. "You can tell all the way from here that he's German?"

"Of course. I'm a trained observer. It's part of the Buy More employee's manual. Right after the sections on surgically removing organs and training wild hippos." Hannah burst into a new fit of giggles.

Sarah turned down the volume and looked away.

* * *

"Hey Chuck!"

Chuck looked up from the desk to see his sister marching over to them. Hannah smiled and waved to her.

"Ellie? What's up?"

"I've come to remind you about Thursday."

"Thursday." Chuck looked at Ellie blankly.

"Thursday. The hospital blood drive. I'm running it this year. Honestly, don't you ever listen to me?"

"No. Blood drive. Got it."

"Great. Just wanted to make sure you remembered." Ellie turned a smiling face to Hannah. "Hi Hannah. I don't suppose…"

"Of course. I'd be happy to."

"Terrific." She looked around the showroom. "Any other volunteers? Aha!" She exclaimed as Morgan walked by.

"Hi Ellie," Morgan turned an uncertain look at Chuck and Hannah. "What can I do for you? You know, I can get you a special friend of the Assistant Manager discount."

"Just checking to see if you can do the hospital blood drive this year."

"Oh, uh…" Morgan looked up at Ellie's hopeful face, and then glanced over towards Hannah. "Of course. Only too happy to help those that are less fortunate."

"Great to hear it. Remember, no chickening out or fainting this time, ok?"

"Chickening out? Me? That's preposterous," Morgan protested. "Don't you chicken out on me and not take that full cup of blood."

"It's a pint, Morgan," Ellie said.

"Oh." Morgan followed her back to the entrance. "That's less than a cup, right?"

Ellie gave him a look, before looking back at the room. "Well, I think I've found all of my volunteers here. At least among the disease-free," she added as Jeff walked by. "I think I'll check with Sarah while I'm here." She turned to Morgan. "You don't think Chuck would mind my asking her, do you?"

"You want to know if Chuck would be ok with you making his ex-girlfriend bleed?"

"Good point. See you later," Ellie said as she headed out the door.

* * *

The next morning, Chuck met Sarah outside her hotel and they jumped into the Porsche.

"You didn't bring coffee?" Sarah asked.

"You always said no drinks in the car."

"Well, I'm glad you've finally started listening," Sarah said, hiding her disappointment. A moment later they sped away from the hotel parking lot.

"So you ready?" she asked him as they merged onto the highway.

"I think so. I studied the details last night. Charles and Sarah Carmichael, married for two years; I'm a software engineer, and you're a party planner."

"That sounds right."

"I figured we could get ourselves ready yesterday after work but you'd already left when I stopped by."

"Ah." Sarah didn't say anything further, as she zoomed past the slow-moving compact in front of them. "I went out to dinner. We did. Shaw and I." She added the rest a moment later.

"I see." Chuck stared off to the side instead of looking at Sarah. "Did you guys have a good time?"

"Yes, we did. Did you and Hannah do anything?"

"Just watched a movie. Nothing crazy."

"Good."

"Yeah, it was pretty good. It was about these aliens that land in South Africa years ago, only to be…" He stopped when he sensed Sarah's disinterest. "Anyway. It was good."

They drove in silence for a while, before Sarah spoke again.

"Chuck, I want you to be careful on this mission. If these people know about the Intersect, we can't let them know who you are." After a pause, "I don't think going under cover like this is such a good idea."

"Did you tell Shaw that last night?" Chuck didn't mean to say this, but the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Sarah gave Chuck a level gaze. "Yes, actually," she said. "But he knows how important it is to keep the Ring from getting an Intersect, and he reminded me how useful you are in the field."

"Well, I do what I can," Chuck responded lamely.

"Just as long as you do it when I'm around. We can't take any chances." They were in LA now, and Sarah turned into the entrance of a parking garage.

* * *

After parking, Chuck and Sarah left the car and soon found the El Camino parked a few lanes away. Shaw and Casey were standing beside it, waiting for them.

"Is this the garage where the guy was killed?" Chuck asked.

Shaw nodded. "Not much we can do here, though. The local authorities have the scene pretty well combed. We'll find out if they discover anything. You guys ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Chuck responded.

"Good. It's important you get clear as soon as you can and have a look around. Unfortunately, even with Caul gone, the show doesn't have any openings for crew members."

"So what about your covers?" Sarah asked. They walked through the lines of cars parked throughout the garage, and they soon arrived by an elevator. Shaw pressed the button.

"We'll have to improvise. There's another show looking for new stars, so we'll be over there."

"Which one?" Chuck asked.

Casey shrugged. "Something called 'The Single Girl'."

Chuck fought the oncoming smile valiantly before finally surrendering. "Casey, you're going to audition for the 'Single Girl'? I guess this is going to be the most dramatic mission ever!"

Casey merely grunted in annoyance.

"Seriously though, Casey. You do realize you're going to have to talk about your feelings, right? That's what people do on these shows."

"I'm sure he can make some up," Shaw commented, causing Sarah to guffaw. Chuck tried not to feel annoyed by this. Poking fun of Casey was supposed to be _his_ thing.

"In case you people haven't forgotten, this is a serious mission," Casey said. "We don't know what these people want with the Intersect."

Chuck briefly imagined a Ring agent running around with the ability to access the Intersect's built-in abilities at a moment's notice. The thought made him shiver. "You don't think it's just because they think it would make good TV?"

Casey grunted. "Watching some idiot bumbling around with an electric toothbrush stuck in his head pretending to be a spy? Trust me, no one would want to watch that. Take it from experience."

"Ha, ha. But why would the Ring be interested in the TV industry? I mean, not that it's surprising or anything, but still? Shouldn't they be infiltrating governments and stuff rather than basic cable?"

Casey shrugged. "I've never understood the thinking of people who betray their country."

"Conjecture is only going to get us so far," Shaw interrupted. "We have to learn what Schumacher wants."

The sound of a ding interrupted their conversation, and the elevator doors opened. "Ok team," Shaw said, "good luck." Chuck followed the others into the elevator.


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own 'Chuck.' I also don't own any reality shows referenced, however vaguely, in this story. I assume somebody owns reality TV shows, right? Can you have reality TV fanfiction? Or is one's own life, by definition, reality TV fanfiction? If so, mine's probably not anything you want to read._

**Chapter 3**

Schumacher's production company, Man-Eating Frog Productions, occupied three floors of the building. Sarah and Chuck's appointment was on the first of the three floors, while the auditions for 'The Single Girl' were held on the second.

Chuck nodded to the other two agents as he followed Sarah out of the elevator. They found themselves in a gold-carpeted hallway, with various pictures aligning the walls. Most were pictures from various reality shows airing through the years. While not a fan himself, Chuck was familiar with most of the shows from Lester and Jeff's morning-after discussions. There was 'Le Disaster!,' a cooking show highlighted by the head chef's frequent outbursts, 'Celebrity Talent Show,' which treated viewers to the sight of former TV actors performing juggling and ventriloquism acts, and 'I'm a Spy,' which had regular people following random strangers around with hidden cameras. This last show had lasted only a season due to the numerous lawsuits. However, due to the low budgets, all of the shows had been profitable, making the creator, Jack Schumacher, very wealthy.

Finally, they reached a desk with a bored-looking young woman seated behind it, flipping through a magazine. Chuck briefly wondered if this was how he looked at the Buy More, and felt some sympathy for some of his grouchier customers. Sarah cleared her throat in a not-too-subtle way, and the girl flashed a pair of annoyed eyes at the two of them.

"We have an appointment for 'Honeymoon's Over.' Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael." The girl studied Sarah for a brief moment before pointing a tattooed arm towards a set of couches.

Chuck followed Sarah into the room, and they sat down. The place reminded him of a very luxurious doctor's office.

Reminded of more mundane matters, Chuck turned to Sarah and asked, "Did my sister talk to you about the blood drive?"

"Mmm hmm," Sarah turned to Chuck, though her eyes were looking past him, and scanning the room.

"So can you do it?"

Sarah shook her head.

"Really? I know it's not necessary for the cover or anything now, but it _is_ really important to Ellie."

Sarah turned her attention away from the room. "Chuck, I can't give blood," she whispered. "Do you know how many poisons and toxins I've been exposed to during the last few years? I've been conditioned to build up an immunity to just about everything out there, but there are still trace amounts in my blood. Nobody could safely accept a transfusion from me."

Chuck considered that for a moment. He never stopped being amazed at the parts of one's life that were affected by being an agent. "So what did you tell her?"

"That I'm afraid of needles."

Chuck tried to imagine Sarah being afraid of anything, much less a needle, but couldn't. "And what did she say?"

"She told me I was being selfish, and innocent children could suffer from my cowardice."

"Oh." Even though she'd given him that same speech on more than one occasion, Chuck wondered if his sister held some resentment towards Sarah. "Sorry 'bout that. I'll talk to her."

"It's ok. She relented eventually."

Chuck nodded as Sarah returned her attention towards the room. He followed her eyes and studied the other couples. A woman in a halter top was frantically talking to a goateed man seated next to her. Across from them, a well-dressed African-American couple was flipping through several pieces of paper clamped onto a clipboard. None of them seemed particularly suspicious, or particularly interesting. Chuck checked his watch and craned his neck down the hallway. If this was an evil mastermind's lair, it wasn't a very exciting one.

They sat there for another fifteen minutes. The early morning began to wear on Chuck, and he felt his eyelids get heavy. He felt a nudge on his shoulder.

"Did you flash?" Sarah asked him quietly.

"Uh, no. But if we wait here any longer, my life may flash before me."

"Well, pay attention!" Sarah admonished. "We need to stay alert."

Fortunately, their wait ended a couple of minutes later. A well-dressed blonde assistant walked into the room, and said "Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael?" with a smile. Chuck and Sarah stood up, and followed her down the hallway.

* * *

The two agents followed the young woman down the hallway, until they were met by a man standing in front of a doorway. He was clad in a blue dress shirt and dark pants, with owl-rimmed glasses that made him seem older than he was.

The young woman nodded to Sarah. "Mrs. Carmichael? Jonathan will be speaking to you." She turned to Chuck and flashed him another polite smile. "Mr. Carmichael, if you would come with me?"

"So you don't want to talk with us together?"

"We find we get a better feel for our candidate couples if we speak with them separately." The woman led Chuck into a small room.

Sarah followed the man into the room. The only items inside were two chairs and a camera set up across from one of them. The man motioned Sarah to the chair facing the camera.

"Mrs. Carmichael," the man began, "I would like to answer a few questions about your married life."

"Ok." Sarah said as she mentally reviewed the details she'd been briefed on yesterday. Calmly, she regarded the man in front of her. He was blocking her route to the exit, but she wasn't worried about that. The man didn't appear to be any kind of threat, and Chuck didn't seem to have flashed on him.

"Mrs. Carmichael, tell me about the time when you first met your husband."

"Well, it was two years ago, and Charles was organizing an office party for his boss. So he came to me for help and…"

The man held a hand up. "That's not really what I'm looking for."

"But you asked about how we first met."

"The facts aren't important. I wanted to know how you felt when you first met him."

"Oh." Sarah's face fell slightly. This was going to be more difficult than she realized.

* * *

"Mr. Carmichael," the woman began, "I would like to answer a few questions about your married life."

"O-ok," Chuck responded, fidgeting slightly in the chair.

"Please. Don't let the camera make you uncomfortable. We just need to have something for our producers to review." This didn't make Chuck feel better. Based on what they knew, the producers would like nothing better than to kill him.

"Just make sure you face the camera when answering my questions." Chuck nodded briefly. "So, tell me about the time when you first met your wife."

"Oh. What do you want to know?"

"How did you react when you first saw her? Was it love at first sight?"

Chuck wasn't sure how Charles Carmichael would have reacted, so he answered on instinct.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think it was."

The woman didn't seem to react to Chuck's answer, and continued on to the next question.

"When did you first realize that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with your wife?"

Chuck answered quickly. "It was when my brother-in-law was getting ready to propose to my sister. There were some…complications. Things weren't going well. But the way she helped to make everything work out. It was like she was her own sister."

This time, the woman smiled and nodded when Chuck had finished. Mentally, he reminded himself to make sure that Charles Carmichael had a sister.

* * *

"When did you first realize that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with your husband?"

Sarah took a sip of water. She didn't see the point of these questions. If he was Ring and wanted to break her cover, he should be asking about facts, not emotions. Facts could be disproven, but emotions couldn't. And if he was just somebody casting a television show, well then she didn't know what the point of these questions was either.

She brushed her leg against the chair to feel the comfort of the knife sheath strapped to her. This made her relax a bit. Not being in control on a mission was something she always hated.

A moment later, she spoke.

"There was a car accident, or at least I thought there had been. It turned out he hadn't… he hadn't even been in a car at the time. But it made me realize that… I couldn't lose him."

* * *

"What is it that you like best about your wife?"

Chuck thought for a moment before answering. "I think it's the way she can handle herself in any situation. She's practically unstoppable. You know, at planning parties," he quickly added.

"She sounds quite formidable."

"She is. But it's not just that. She really cares about people too. More so than she's willing to let on, sometimes."

* * *

"What is it that you like best about your husband?"

Sarah hoped the interview would be ending soon. She didn't like Chuck being alone without her watching over him. She hoped he wasn't doing anything foolish, or needlessly risking his own life.

She looked back at the interviewer, who was beginning to look impatient. "Charles is… someone who firmly believes in what's right. He's willing to do whatever is necessary for, not just the people he cares about, but anybody. And he'll sacrifice his own needs to do this."

"Seems like an unusual trait for a software engineer."

"Sometimes you find things in the most unlikely places," Sarah admitted.

* * *

"Changing gears," the woman said, briefly leaning forward towards Chuck. "What is it that you least like about your wife?"

Chuck swallowed. He guessed it was a fair question, given the nature of the show. "Well… She tends to really bottle up her emotions. I think she's afraid sometimes, and does it to protect herself. It took a long time to get her to open up to me. Now I'm worried that she's gone back to the way she was."

* * *

"He's very career-minded," Sarah responded to the question. "He didn't used to be, but lately he's been really focused on work. I'm…proud of him, of course. But I'm worried the job may be changing him."

"Are you worried there may be somebody else?"

"No," Chuck realized he may have answered too quickly, because the woman raised an eyebrow in response. Still, he figured Carmichael would be full of self-confidence, and wouldn't be worried about any competition.

"Really?" The woman responded. "A beautiful woman like her?"

"Well, she does get a lot of attention from men," Chuck admitted. "Usually she's able to fight them off. There is this one guy though…"

* * *

"Yes." Sarah responded to the question emphatically.

The man looked at her in surprise.

"Charles always seems to have women falling for him," Sarah added before the interviewer could speak.

"Really?"

"Trust me. It happens all the time."

"Why?" The man still seemed surprised.

"Well, I guess Charles and I come from…different worlds. There are a lot of women he has more in common with than me."

"Usually they're brunettes, too," she added, more to herself than to the camera.

* * *

The woman stood up. "Mr. Carmichael, thank you very much. We will let you know if we decide to meet with you further. We have a lot of applicants that we still need to meet with, you understand."

"Of course," Chuck said, his shoulders relaxing. The experience had been awkward, but a lot less dangerous than most of his undercover missions. He followed the woman out into the hallway. A moment later, he saw Sarah follow the man out of another room. He noticed that she looked unusually pale.

"Are you ok?" he asked after the two interviewers had walked away.

"Of course," Sarah responded.

"What happened?"

"They just asked some questions, nothing dangerous." Sarah looked past Chuck, and then turned to look the other way. "I think this is our chance to look around. Whatever Schumacher's up to, it must be around here somewhere."

* * *

The female interviewer glanced over at her male counterpart as they walked away from the couple. "Well?"

"We should talk to him."

"Right." The woman produced her cell phone from her pocket, and quickly pressed a number.

"I need to speak with Schumacher right away."


	4. Chapter 4

_Just a reminder, this story takes place before the last two episodes. So, there is a Hannah, there's no Samantha and Morgan has no clue._

_Also, in case anyone's wondering, the fact that Chuck and Sarah are going on a show that sounds suspiciously like a heavily promoted show on the same network as 'Chuck' is a coincidence. The fact that a bunch of other shows mentioned in this story sound like other reality shows is…not._

**Chapter 4**

"What is it, Agent Walker?"

Agent Shaw walked past the long string of male models and unemployed actors waiting for their 'Single Girl' audition, and quickly made his way into the hallway.

"Alright, I'll be monitoring you when the meeting happens." He hung up the phone and headed back into the room.

"Walker and Bartowski are going to be meeting with Schumacher some time today," he told Casey after he had sat back down. "The CIA van should be here shortly, so we'll have surveillance in position."

"Think there will be any danger?" Casey asked.

"We can't tell at this point. But stay on-line so you can be ready if anything comes up. Once your interview's done we can see if we can find you another cover. Maybe a janitor or something."

"May not be necessary. They might call me back for a second interview."

Shaw didn't respond right away. "I'm not sure we can plan on that."

Casey gave him a look. "What? You don't think women find me attractive?"

"Well, you know, they're probably looking for someone with a little more…charisma."

"I can be charismatic. I'm just like this for the job. If it job requires me to, I can charisma your ass off."

Shaw just shrugged, and turned away.

* * *

There were several offices aligning the hallway. Most of them were empty, and none of them seemed to contain anything suspicious. Chuck and Sarah searched through computer directories and file cabinets, but found nothing that mentioned the Ring or the Intersect. Things were beginning to get discouraging.

Finally, they found a locked door at the end of the hallway. Chuck thought he could hear a humming sound coming from the other side. "Well, this is promising," he commented. A moment later, his eyes flickered at the flash hit.

He looked down on the ground, picked up a paper clip, and straightened it straightened it out to form a makeshift lock pick. A moment of fidgeting later, he'd managed to unlock the door.

"Breaking and entering is in the Intersect?" Sarah asked as she quickly glanced around to make sure no one was coming.

Chuck shrugged. He'd stopped trying to figure out why things were in the Intersect when he'd flashed on how to fold a fitted sheet the week before.

The humming sound grew louder as Chuck opened the door, and a gust of air hit them from inside. The room was much larger than expected, with several giant servers against one wall. Several computer terminals were found throughout the room as well. Two large fans were on full power, cooling the room.

"Why would a reality TV producer need all this?" Chuck asked.

"He wouldn't. The Ring would."

Chuck leaned over one of the terminals, and started searching through files.

"Find anything?"

"Nothing about the Intersect. There seem to be a bunch of files about something called Operation Caboodle though."

"Operation Caboodle? Doesn't sound very dangerous. You didn't flash on it?"

"Nope, and I can't find anything specific about it in here."

"Alright. Can you copy any of the files?"

"I dunno. They're pretty big."

"Alright, well, I can't hear if anyone's coming so we should get out of here as soon as we can. I'll let Shaw know what we found."

They carefully snuck out of the room, and headed back down the hallway.

"Hold it!"

The two agents stopped in their tracks, and moved around slowly. As he was turning, Chuck saw Sarah put a hand by where she usually kept her firearm hidden.

Chuck was surprised to see the tattooed receptionist standing in front of them.

"I've been looking for you too."

"Oh, uh. My wife needed to find a bathroom."

"There's one right by the waiting room," the receptionist gestured back down the hallway.

"Ah, I told you honey," Chuck let out a nervous laugh.

"Doesn't matter. I just needed to tell you that Mr. Schumacher wants to meet with you both. Right away."

* * *

The young CIA agent nervously whirled around at the sound of the van door opening.

"Easy Agent," Shaw said as he climbed inside, putting a hand in front of him.

"Sorry, Agent Shaw," the younger agent said.

"It's ok. You can't ever be too careful. Just be sure you're steadier when you really do need to fire that weapon." Shaw nodded to the video screen. "So, the meeting starting yet?"

"Not yet. Agents Carmichael and Walker are waiting in Schumacher's office right now." The Agent looked back at the door. "How was your audition?"

"That's not important, Agent. We're here on a mission, and that's all we need to worry about." After a pause, "They said they'd call me and let me know."

"And Agent Casey?"

"Agent Casey is a patriot who loves this country. So I'm sure he won't be too disappointed."

The young agent chuckled before looking back to the screen. "I think the meeting is starting."

Chuck and Sarah stood up when the door opened. The man who entered didn't speak, but instead sat down on the office's leather chair. He was in his fifties, with graying hair swept back to reveal a sharp widow's peak. His tailored suit was draped over him, with an orange tie competing to draw one's attention. He gave the two agents a bored once-over.

"So my assistants said I should meet with you. They seem to believe you'd be perfect for the show." Schumacher pronounced the word 'they' as if it was the name of an ex-wife.

"So why do you want to go on TV?"

"Well, we've been having some marital problems lately, and we were thinking that this would be the perfect chance to work through our issues." Sarah spoke up for Chuck.

"Hmm, better than going to private sessions a marriage counselor, naturally." Schumacher seemed mildly amused. "You don't really fool me. I'm sure you have agents strategically placed somewhere nearby."

Chuck gave Sarah an alarmed look.

"Well I assure you that there won't be any contracts today, so you won't be needing representation at this point. And as confident as you two might be, no decision has been made yet."

Chuck relaxed a bit. If Schumacher was Ring, he didn't seem to be concerned about the two of them.

"So, you two are willing to discuss your private lives on camera, huh? You can handle having cameras tracking your every move, never giving you a second of privacy?"

"I think I can handle that." Chuck answered immediately.

"Ok. What about personal questions? What if I were to ask you when the last time was that you two had sex?"

"Oh, uh…" Chuck stumbled for a moment. "Well, we've been really busy lately. With work and everything. So there hasn't really been time." Looking at the producer's bored face he added, "Even when we try to get away, things happen. There was this one time in this motel…" An elbow to the ribs stopped him.

"Hmm. I see. Well, if we're going to use you two, we're going to have to play up your archetypes."

"Archetypes?"

"Right." Schumacher studied Chuck critically. "We need to lose that slicked-back hair. How about something scruffier? And the wardrobe." He waved away Chuck's current blazer and blue shirt. "Perhaps a short-sleeved dress shirt and a tie."

"Really? You think that would make me look better?"

"Of course not!" Schumacher snorted. "But we'll need to play up the whole dork and the hottie thing, even if it is a bit 2008."

Chuck smiled weakly, hoping that Casey wasn't in the van listening to this. He wouldn't hear the end of that one. Sarah tightened her grip on the chair she was seated in, but didn't say anything in response.

"Now, as for you," Schumacher turned to Sarah. "You'll need to find something more low cut…"

* * *

"Steady, Agent Walker," Shaw said into Sarah's earpiece. "Even if he is Ring we still need him for now. Once we have what we need, I promise you can kick the crap out of him as much as you want."

"I think Agent Carmichael might beat her to it," the younger Agent said to Shaw. After a moment, "That thing about the motel was a bit strange. I wonder if there was any truth to that."

"These are trained agents. They can improvise stories whenever necessary." As Shaw turned away from the younger agent, he did have to admit he had a point. Sarah and Chuck clearly did have a close relationship.

* * *

"So, if you make those few changes, then I think we can probably work with you." Schumacher glanced at his watch. "You'll still need to meet with my co-producer first, of course."

"Your co-producer?"

"Of course. He's done several shows on MTV, so he knows exactly what the 18-25 demo likes to watch. If he decides that's you, then we should be ready to go. So do you understand everything?"

"Yup." Chuck paused for a moment. "We can do everything you asked. The whole…kit and caboodle."

Schumacher gave Chuck a sharp look. "Ok. I see. Well it's been nice meeting with you, but I have a meeting at Spago in a few. My assistants will see you out."

* * *

"What were you thinking?" Sarah turned on Chuck once they'd left Schumacher's office.

"What?"

"Mentioning Operation Caboodle like that. You may have exposed our cover."

"I figured we weren't getting anywhere anyway, and it might make him show his hand." He stared down at the gold carpet as they walked down the hallway. "Besides, he was irritating me with his whole 'dork and the hottie' thing."

"Chuck, he was talking about our covers, he wasn't talking about you personally. You and I both know that there's a whole lot more to you than a label like that."

"Thanks. And you know you're way more than just a hottie."

There was an awkward silence as they walked through the waiting room. As they were about to reach the exit, Chuck said, "Before we leave I need to go to the little boy's room."

"Alright. Just be quick. We need to regroup with Shaw and Casey."

Chuck stared into the bathroom mirror. Despite what Sarah had said, he still resented Schumacher's suggestions. Unlike past missions, this Charles Carmichael wasn't the flashy agent, but was more like…Chuck himself. But he did get that he and Sarah looked like a mismatch.

Sighing, Chuck washed his hands, and dried them off with a paper towel. He turned to the wastebasket and tried to throw the crumpled up paper in. The ball missed and landed behind the basket.

Chuck sighed. Apparently, the Intersect didn't feel that wastepaper basketball was a vital skill. He was still thinking about Schumacher's words as he leaned over to pick up the crumpled up paper.

Because of this, he didn't notice when someone snuck out of one of the stalls and conked him over the head.


	5. Chapter 5

_I don't own 'Chuck.' I did for a while, but then I traded them for some magic beans. I planted them, and they grew into a giant beanstalk. I climbed the beanstalk and found some small cottage that seven vertically-challenged types lived in. They told me in order to get 'Chuck' back I'd have to go visit the wizard, who lived in the land of Mordor, working as a den mother for four private school girls, including one named Tootie._

_I may have gotten some of that story wrong, but the point remains. Which was… _

_Oh heck…_

**Chapter 5**

Hannah walked into the break room, hoping to find Chuck. Time at the Buy More had been crawling along without him there to talk with. She'd hoped he'd returned and gone to the back of the store while she had been talking to a customer. Instead the only person seated there was her boss, Morgan.

"Hey Morgan, have you seen Chuck?"

"Nope." Morgan looked up from his sandwich, and pursed his lips. "He should be on an offsite install."

"Still?"

"Looks like it."

Hannah stood there a moment, debating with herself. Finally she sat down at the table. Morgan appeared surprised, but pushed his drink over to give her space.

"Morgan, can I ask you something?"

"If you like."

"Has Chuck always been so… mysterious?"

"No," Morgan answered quickly. "He's been a little weirder lately." He stood up to go to the vending machine.

"It's strange. Sometimes it feels like we're getting real close, and then sometimes he seems so…preoccupied. You live with him, right? Is he ok?"

Morgan stared at the vending machine without getting his box of candy. "He's fine. He's not…cheating on you if that's what you're asking."

"No, it wasn't. I'm just trying to understand him, and he's not opening up to me. I mean, the last time I talked to was yesterday afternoon when he was seated right over there. And I haven't heard from him since."

Morgan glanced over at the empty table that Hannah was pointing at. He walked over there, and picked up the magazine that was left on a chair. "Maybe he left a message to you in here. Some secret code." He picked it up, and flipped through it. "Nope, just some feature on reality TV shows."

Hannah made a face. "Chuck likes reality TV?"

Morgan shrugged. "I don't think so. He didn't used to anyway. I take it you're not a fan?"

"Please. A bunch of fame-starved people running around in overly contrived situations that bear no resemblance to reality, just so TV networks can save money on writers? Not a chance."

"So not a regular viewer of 'Celebrity Alcatraz', huh?"

"Uh uh." Morgan held out the box of candy to Hannah, and she took a few pieces.

"Or 'America's Next Great Celebrity Impersonator?'"

"Nope."

"And you don't follow the every action of Sheronica?"

Hannah looked at Morgan blankly.

"Sheronica. Shane and Veronica. They're this couple on this show about rich kids in California."

Hannah shook her head. "Sorry. And I don't get this whole idea of marginalizing two people by referring to them with a single name. I mean, if people start calling me and Chuck 'Channah'…"

For a while, they sat quietly at the break room table. Finally, Morgan broke the silence. "Well, I'd beware of some of the people here. Big reality TV fans. You may want to keep those opinions to yourself. As enlightened as they may be." He popped another piece of candy into his mouth. "And I wouldn't make fun of comic books either."

"Oh, I'd never do that."

"Really? You like comic books?"

"Yeah well, I used to date a guy who was into the whole superhero thing. So I kind of got into it."

Morgan sighed. Chuck really didn't deserve her. Whatever he was doing had better be important.

* * *

Chuck woke up to find himself bound to a chair. He was a well-furnished but empty conference room, with sunlight streaming through a large window. He was off to the side of the window, so he couldn't see anyone outside, and no one could see him. But at least it was a break from the dank warehouses he usually found himself in when taken prisoner.

The one door to the room opened, and Schumacher walked in, followed by his two assistants. Schumacher wasted no time, and quickly approached him.

"So, how about telling me who you work for."

"Why would I do that?" Chuck summoned up as much courage as he could, which he hoped made its way into his voice.

"Oh, I'm sure I could give you reasons."

"_Chuck,_" Shaw's voice came through Chuck's earpiece. "_We're trying to locate you, and we should be there soon. Are you in immediate danger, or do you think you can handle this?_"

Chuck glanced around. It didn't look like Schumacher's assistants qualified as 'muscle', but he could be wrong about that. Shumacher himself didn't look all that menacing for a Ring agent either. "I've seen worse," Chuck said out loud for Shaw's benefit.

"We'll see about that. I know you're here about Operation Caboodle, so tell me how you know about it. But believe me, we know how to deal with our competition."

Chuck hoped his surprise didn't show on his face. Schumacher thought he was a competitor? A foreign country? Could there be another organization like the Ring out there? That was the last thing he needed.

"_Keep him talking, Chuck. See if you can get him to reveal something. We're almost there._"

Chuck wasn't exactly sure how to act like an enemy agent, but he figured he'd give it a shot. "Oh, you may think you've won, Schumacher, but you haven't. This is only a battle, and we're still going to win the war."

A faint smile touched Schumacher's lips. "Oh, it's over, trust me. Face it, you've lost. Now, back to telling me who you're working for."

This wasn't getting anywhere, Chuck thought to himself. Schumacher wasn't saying anything useful. Unfortunately, the Intersect had seemed to decide to take a coffee break, leaving him without any useful way of escaping.

"Maybe we should clear the floor," Schumacher said to his assistants. "Wouldn't want anyone to hear the screaming." He turned back to Chuck. "So, should it be a finger first? Which one, I wonder?"

Chuck tried to imagine what Casey would say in this situation. "Why don't you surprise me," he hissed in his best Casey-like voice.

Schumacher stood there, looking surprised. Then his eyes narrowed. "Cute. Well, if you think you can escape from this, think again. There's no way out of those ropes. Trust me. I've produced three David Blaine spec…"

Schumacher stopped as the sound of gunfire erupted from outside.

* * *

Not sure what to do, Chuck leaned over and felt the chair tip over onto the ground. He could see the empty eyes of the male assistant lying on the ground, his shirt stained red. The sound of another shot rang out, and the flash finally hit. Seeing what to do, Chuck grabbed a tie clip from the dead assistant and quickly sliced through his binds.

A moment later, he was free and looked around the room. Both Schumacher and the female assistant were gone. He heard another shot, and began crawling towards the door. "Stop shooting! I'm the only one in here!"

"_It's not us_," Chuck heard Shaw's voice in his ear. "_Are you ok? Can you get out?"_

"Yes and yes to your questions. And what do you mean it's not you?"

"We're trying to find the shooter. Just get out of there. Find Schumacher."

Chuck grabbed the door and raced into the hallway. He found himself in another reception area, and ran past a confused receptionist. In the outer hallway, he saw the doorway to the stairs slam shut.

"I think he's in the stairwell."

"We need him. See if you can catch him."

"Great," Chuck grumbled to himself. Run away from one person trying to kill him to catch up with another person trying to kill him. Sounded like a plan.

* * *

"Chuck, wait!"

Chuck turned to look downward as he prepared to rush up the stairs. Sarah was a level below, a worried look on her face.

"Chuck, let me go first. He's dangerous." Sarah hurried up the stairs to catch up with him. "Are you ok?"

"Great, just great. I wouldn't expect a follow-up interview with Jonathan though."

"Did you find anything out from Schumacher?"

"Yeah, for a guy who doesn't like TV writers, he sure seems to like bad cop show dialogue. Other than that, he thought I was from some other organization."

"What kind of organization?"

"Another diabolical secret agency bent on world domination, I'd imagine."

They rushed up to the next level, and Sarah carefully led the way in. Chuck held back until he saw his handler wave the ok sign.

The floor was mostly deserted. Sarah carefully moved through the hall, checking each of the doors surrounding the hallway. Finally, there was a commotion behind a set of double doors and several people ran out. "I guess we go that way," Chuck said.

The doors led to a small auditorium overlooking a stage set up as a kitchen. The auditorium seemed deserted, until Chuck heard a slight whimpering sound. They cautiously followed the noise until they saw a man dressed in a chef's uniform cowering behind one of the seats.

"In there," the man whispered in a British accent, pointing towards the stage. "In the back."

"Shaw," Sarah said as they climbed up to the stage, "I think we have Schumacher cornered. Where's Casey?"

"_He's coming. Be careful, Sarah._"

Chuck tried to ignore the informal use of Sarah's name. "Have you found who was doing the shooting?"

"_Not yet."_

The stage was deserted, but Chuck saw that there was an open door off to the side. They cautiously approached, and Sarah slowly opened the door. Inside was a second, much larger kitchen. "Don't make a move," they heard a voice say as they walked inside.

Schumacher was standing there, his back to a large metal refrigerator. He was waving a large kitchen knife, stabbing at air in a desperate manner.

Sarah raised her gun. "Stand down! You're surrounded."

"Why are you trying to kill me?"

Sarah glanced at Chuck in confusion. "We're not."

"I don't believe you."

Chuck took a step forward, ignoring Sarah's word of warning. "We're not trying to kill you. We just want to talk to you."

Schumacher looked unsure for a second, then his eyes narrowed. He leaned back and threw the knife straight at Chuck.

The whoosh of another flash interrupted the sound of Sarah's gasp. A moment later, he grabbed a rolling pin from the side, and knocked the knife out of the way. Schumacher's eyes widened in amazement.

"I told you, we just want to talk. So maybe you could stop throwing things." This time Chuck was able to dodge the airborne jar of mustard without aid of the Intersect. Schumacher turned away from the refrigerator, unable to find anything else to throw. Finally he grabbed a bottle of vinegar, and held it over him.

The crackle of a gunshot echoed from behind. The bullet hit the bottle, splashing vinegar over both Chuck and Schumacher. "Watch him!" Sarah yelled from behind, "I'll check it out!"

"Careful, Sarah." Chuck said, before moving closer to Schumacher. "We're not trying to hurt you. We just want to talk about Operation Caboodle."

Schumacher stared at the rolling pin still in Chuck's hand. Chuck placed it down on the counter, and raised his hands in a calming gesture. Schumacher looked at him again, before finally speaking. "Ok, fine. I'll tell you what you want to know."

A grunt from the other end of the room stopped Schumacher from saying anything further. "Sarah?" Chuck turned.

A heavy weight knocked Chuck off his feet, and he found himself looking back up at Schumacher. The older man was leaning over him, the knife back in his hand. "What network are you people from?" Schumacher asked breathlessly.

A moment later, a large frying pan came down on Schumacher's head. Chuck looked up to see Casey standing over him. The older man nodded to Chuck and pulled him to his feet. "Bon appetit."

* * *

Chuck got back to his feet and ran back towards the kitchen's entrance. He found Sarah lying there, unconscious. He quickly kneeled down to examine her. "C'mon Sarah. Please be ok."

After a few anxious seconds, Sarah's eyes flickered and she leaned forward. "Chuck?" she whispered, and then looked behind him. "Casey?"

"We got him." Casey responded.

Sarah nodded wordlessly, before looking at Casey more closely. "Your eyes are red. Casey, have you been crying?"

Casey grumbled something before looking back. "We've got Schumacher. Let's bring him back to Castle and find out what this is all about."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Schumacher looked a lot less sure of himself when chained to a table. In fact, he looked downright frightened. The producer was looking around the Castle's interrogation room, clearly perplexed by his present situation. Occasionally his eyes would turn to Agent Shaw, who was silently standing before him.

Chuck watched this through the one-way mirror outside the room. Sarah and Casey stood beside him, waiting patiently. Finally, as Chuck was beginning to feel nearly as jumpy as Schumacher, the questioning started.

"Tell me about the Ring."

Schumacher looked at Shaw in confusion. "Do you mean the Japanese version or the American? I don't really deal in motion pictures, you know."

"Don't play games." Shaw leaned in to the older man, who tried to back away. This was fairly unsuccessful, as his chair was bolted to the floor.

"I'm not, I really don't know what this is about. Who are you people? Why did you try to kill me?"

"We haven't tried to kill you. Yet." Chuck heard Casey grunt beside him.

"Look, I'm an important guy. Somebody's going to miss me."

"Maybe. But trust me. They can't find you here."

Schumacher looked around again. "Where am I?" He sat there for a moment before adding. "What happened to that Carpenter guy? Can I talk to him?"

"It's Carmichael," Chuck mumbled to himself. He looked back through the mirror to see Shaw waving towards him.

* * *

Schumacher looked to Chuck as soon as he entered the room. "How did you do that thing with the rolling pin?" he asked. "That was amazing!"

Chuck glanced at Shaw briefly, trying to get some sign as to what he should do. "Mr. Schumacher," he finally said. "Jack. You're in a great deal of trouble, so you should really cooperate with us."

"But where am I?"

Chuck glanced at Shaw again, who said, "You are in a top-secret government holding facility."

"No kidding?" To Chuck's surprise, this news seemed to calm Schumacher down.

"Mr. Schumacher, please tell us about Operation Caboodle."

Schumacher looked somewhat surprised by the question. "But you guys know all about that, right?"

Shaw leaned in. "What do you mean?"

"Well it was your idea!" Schumacher looked at the two blank faces. "Ok, maybe we renamed it a bit. Operation Caboodle sounds a lot better than Project Outsource, right? Much more pizzazz."

Chuck turned away as the flash hit. When it had ended, he nodded towards Shaw and they headed out of the room.

* * *

"Project Outsource." General Beckman said the words with distaste. "Yes, we know about that. I assure you, I had no part of it."

"But what is it?" Sarah asked. The four of them were seated at the conference table, as the General addressed them on the screen.

"In the past few years, the NSA, CIA, and FBI have some trouble…recruiting. Interest has been down, and those we have brought in haven't always been what we were hoping for. So, we've been left shorthanded in both agents and analysts. In some cases, we've had to take…unorthodox routes to get the job done." Beckman looked directly at Chuck as she said this.

"In the past, the entertainment industry has been brought in to help increase interest in working for government agencies. And at times it's worked, surprisingly. But recently, interest has dropped. Nobody seems to want to watch spy shows anymore. I think writers were given too much leeway to be…creative. People didn't want to see agents that were willing to do absolutely anything to get the information they needed, or robotic military leaders giving orders without any thought or feelings towards the people involved. I don't know where they came up with those ideas."

Chuck quickly felt a need to study the papers in front of him. He thought he heard Casey chuckle beside him.

"In addition to that, it was an expensive investment. I'm told hiring actors requires a great deal of money, and the US Government was paying a large amount of it. So," the General continued, "it was decided that a different tactic was needed. A deal was made with certain television producers that worked with reality programming. They wanted to find the right people that would generate the type of drama they were looking for. To do this, we gave them access to information that would help them with this. Tax returns, census results, library records, online dating profiles, whatever it was they wanted."

Chuck didn't know how to respond to this. He was used to having his privacy invaded, but knowing he wasn't alone didn't make him feel any better.

"What did you get in exchange for all of this?" Sarah asked. From her expression, Chuck didn't think that she approved of this latest news either.

"We got a free way to sort through and analyze a lot of information. They shared any information that might be helpful: predicting future criminal attacks, finding possible traitors or enemy agents, even identifying ideal recruits. It had the potential to help protect this country, and save a lot of money by outsourcing our analysts. At least that was the idea. Whether it was worth the price, I don't know."

"But tracking all of this information? Can the government do that? I mean, legally?" Chuck asked.

Beckman shrugged. "Technically, the government wasn't. TV networks were. That's perfectly legal."

"But now the Ring is trying to get a hold of all of this information." Shaw spoke up.

"That's the danger. They could use it for their own ends."

"Such as finding the Intersect." Chuck paled as Sarah said this.

"That, or choosing the ideal person to be their own Intersect."

Chuck nodded. "We need to find out who's behind this."

* * *

Schumacher looked bored when Shaw and Chuck returned to the interrogation room.

"Tell us about Jason Caul." Shaw said after the door was closed.

"Who?"

"Jason Caul. He worked on your television crew. His body was found in a parking garage a few days ago."

Schumacher shrugged. "We employ dozens of people on our programs. I can't be expected to know all of them."

"Interesting. He was trying to contact us about something going on with one of your shows. It seems to me that might make you want to familiarize yourself with him."

"Maybe. But I didn't."

"Still, you don't seem overly upset that one of you employees was murdered."

"Oh, my heart goes out to his family at this sad time." Schumacher said it with gravity, but it sounded rehearsed.

"But what's a little death compared to finding the perfect cast?"

"Casting is everything. Finding the perfect group of people who absolutely can't stand each other paid for my home in the Hamptons." After a moment, "Look, I told you this was all your people's idea. I have no idea what happened to this crew member. I'm not really in charge of hiring anyway. That was more of my co-producer's job."

"You mean the one from MTV?" Chuck asked.

"Yup. Name's Mark Iselin. You've probably heard of him."

Chuck hadn't, but the Intersect had. The rush of another flash hit him as soon as Schumacher said the name.

"He ok?" Schumacher ask Shaw. "I used to work with a director back in the 80's who'd look like that sometimes. We sent him to detox after he came in one day wearing lederhosen and a cowboy hat."

"I'm ok," Chuck said hastily. "Just a nervous tic." He looked over at Shaw and nodded. "Turns out MTV _is_ evil," he added, just to himself. "I guess Morgan was right after all."

* * *

Chuck was about to follow Shaw out of the interrogation room, but suddenly turned around towards Schumacher. "Hey, what tipped you off that S…Agent Walker and I weren't really a couple?"

Schumacher looked at him in surprise. "You're not really a couple?"

"No. We just work together."

"Huh." Schumacher looked thoughtful for a moment. "I had no idea. You two seemed more real than any couple I've seen come in to audition. You two really don't have a thing together?"

Outside the room, Sarah listened to Schumacher say this. She could feel Shaw's eyes on her.

"I guess that's what it's like when you work together," Schumacher commented in the room. "Me, I can't even find a decent assistant."

* * *

"Mr. Iselin?" Schumacher's assistant quietly approached the car when she saw it in the corner of the garage.

"Yes." The window rolled down slowly, and a hand waved from inside the car.

"They have Schumacher."

"I know. Things didn't quite go as planned. Now he'll talk."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to do nothing. I have people who can handle this."

The woman nodded. "You're sure those two who came in…the Carmichaels, are CIA?"

"Of course. And I appreciate you tipping me off about them. And about that crew member."

"Then you'll keep your promise? I'll get to be a producer on the next show?"

"Naturally." Iselin glanced behind the woman for a moment.

Two people appeared from behind another car. Schumacher's assistant heard the gunshot before she could turn around. She slipped down, trying desperately to clutch the handle of the car door as she fell.

Iselin looked at the other two. "I need you to find these CIA agents. Get rid of them, and this time when you find Schumacher, don't miss."

_So I've taken a cue from the show and named some of the characters in this story after names in various movies. I'll let you all figure out which movies (they weren't chosen randomly). I wanted to name somebody after the sleeper assassin in 'The Manchurian Candidate' but I'd forgotten the character's name was…Shaw. I don't know if that's a coincidence or not._

_Thanks everybody for all of the kind reviews so far. Please keep reviewing! I know the underlying plot is a bit outlandish, but hopefully I didn't just jump over any sharks with these latest reveals._


	7. Chapter 7

_I'd hoped to announce here that I do now own 'Chuck.' However, due to a said misunderstanding, it turns out that I own the rights to the movie 'Good Luck Chuck" instead. Believe me, I'm not happy about it either._

**Chapter 7**

"So now what?"

Chuck raised the question to his three fellow agents as they returned to the Castle's conference table. They had gotten very little additional information from Schumacher. This TV show was the first time Schumacher had worked with him, and the pairing had been Iselin's idea. He had never actually met Iselin; instead all conversation had been through his assistants or by email and texts.

"We keep Schumacher here for now. We don't know if he was right about those shots being meant for him rather than you." Chuck shivered slightly at Shaw's words. Even being accidentally shot at wasn't something he was thrilled about.

"In the meantime, I think we can take it on faith that Iselin knows that you and Sarah aren't who you claim to be. He may not know who you actually are, but I doubt he believes you're from a rival network like Schumacher does."

"Then we can't continue with the cover," Sarah said.

"Actually, that's exactly what we have to do. We need to draw him out."

"Wait, wait," Chuck protested at the idea of being bait. "Why can't we just go in and take down that computer room we found? Make sure they don't find the Intersect."

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that right now. It's perfectly legal, as far as the government is concerned. Our best bet is to get the people trying to use it."

"Are you sure that's our only option?" Sarah asked.

"I don't like it any more than you do," Shaw said to her, giving her a brief smile. "But it is."

At that moment, the muffled sound of John Philip Sousa appeared in the room. Casey quickly reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. "It's the 'Single Girl' producer," he said after he'd glanced at it.

"It could be Iselin, or someone connected to him," Shaw said. "Put it on speaker."

"Is this John Reagan?" a female voice said after Casey answered the phone.

"Reagan? Seriously?" Chuck commented before being answered by a chorus of shushes.

"This is him."

"Hello, Mr. Reagan. This is Nancy, from the 'Single Girl' audition. I just wanted to let you know that we would like you to come in again tomorrow. That story you told, and the sensitivity you told it with, it really touched our hearts." Chuck saw Sarah raise an eyebrow at this, but nobody commented.

"I see. And what about…" he turned to Shaw and whispered, "What name did you give again?"

"Jones."

"And what about Daniel Jones?" Casey asked into the phone.

"Oh. Is he a friend of yours?"

"We travel in similar circles."

"Well, to be honest, we thought he was quite the eye candy. But, a dishrag has more personality."

Chuck bit his lip to avoid laughing.

"Would you mind telling him that we don't need him to come in again?"

"Um, of course. Thank you very much." Casey disconnected the phone.

Shaw saw the three pairs of eyes on him and shrugged. "Well, clearly we can't assume that these producers will make predictable decisions. We'll need to make sure that you two stay on that show's radar." He headed back towards the interrogation room.

Chuck looked at Casey. "That must have been one hell of an interview."

"What can I say. I'm a chick magnet."

A few minutes later, Shaw returned. "I had Schumacher contact the show, and apply a little weight to make sure you guys get another meeting. It seemed to work; they want to see the two of you this evening."

"Tonight?" Sarah asked. "Where?"

"Well, apparently they'd like to see you two on a more casual setting. So, you two are going on a date."

Chuck's immediate smile lasted for a few moments, before he was reminded of something. "Tonight? But I was supposed to go out with Hannah."

"Sorry, Chuck," Shaw said. "Duty calls."

* * *

The restaurant was only half-full when Chuck and Sarah entered. The representative from the show had organized the meeting, so Shaw hadn't been able to choose the location. Because the meeting had been scheduled so quickly, there had only been time for Chuck to quickly go home and change. The trip to the restaurant had been spent reviewing the plan with Shaw, Casey and Sarah. Shaw would stay in the van outside the restaurant, while Casey would monitor under cover. Chuck and Sarah had spent the rest of the time making sure their back stories were consistent. As a result, Chuck had barely managed to send off a quick apologetic text message to Hannah. He checked his phone a few times to see if she'd responded to the message. Each time, he felt Sarah's eyes watching him.

"I think that's them," Sarah pointed at a table as they entered the restaurant. "We're in the middle of the restaurant," she added to Shaw through her earpiece. "Lots of escape routes just in case."

"Good. Chuck, are you flashing on them?"

"Nope," Chuck responded. The woman seemed fairly young, as she was staring ahead somewhat nervously. She was dressed in a yellow blouse and blue slacks, with her blonde hair tied back. The man seated beside her looked somewhat unhappy to be there. His eyes were shielded by the rim of his Angels baseball cap, and his goatee failed to mask the pout on his face.

"Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael?" the girl jumped up as they approached. "I'm Tracy. You interviewed with my boss earlier today, but she can't make it."

"Oh?" Sarah said. "Everything ok?"

The girl shrugged. "Probably. She runs out sometimes. Being Mr. Schumacher's assistant keeps her real busy. Uh, this is my boyfriend Steve."

Steve gave Chuck and Sarah a bored wave.

"Steve, you've got the camera, right?"

"Of course I do. I know what I'm doing, ok."

"Steve's a director," Tracy explained. "Or he will be someday."

"On movies," the man added. "Not this crap."

"Steve!"

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. If these two were enemy agents, the Ring must be falling on hard times.

"So, guys," Tracy turned to them. "I saw your interviews, and I know you made quite an impression on Mr. Schumacher. I'm hoping to get more of a feel for what you two are really like."

Chuck nodded as he began flipping through the menu.

"I hope you like this place. We come here all the time. The food's great." She glanced over at her boyfriend, who shrugged.

"So," Tracy turned a beaming expression back to Chuck and Sarah, "Is this the kind of date you guys go on?"

"Uh, sure, we go out to eat all the time."

"Not as much as we used to," Sarah said from behind her menu. Chuck gave her a look. It was true of course, since they were no longer cover dating. Still, he was surprised that she would say that.

"Well that's not true honey. We go out all the time."

"Not since we got married. Now you work all the time, and when you're home you just like to sit on the couch and watch TV."

Chuck's surprise faded away as he began to catch on. "Good, Sarah. Remember, Chuck, the Carmichaels are having marital problems," Shaw's voice echoed Chuck's realization.

Tracy was nudging Steve, who yawned noticeably before finally pointing the camera at Chuck and Sarah. "Well I'm sure you work very hard, Charles. Personally, I find having ambition, and actually acting on it," she said, turning towards her boyfriend, "quite attractive."

Sarah merely shrugged. "Just as long as you don't let it change who you are."

The table was silent for a few moments before the waiter finally approached to take their orders. Chuck quickly debated whether Carmichael would be the type to order for his wife.

"I'll have the shrimp scampi, and my wife will have the pasta primavera and a garden salad. Oh, and make sure you put the olives to the side." He glanced at Sarah, but she gave no indication of whether she approved or not.

"The lasagna," Steve said gruffly.

Tracy watched him for a moment before finally saying, "Just a salad."

"Anything to drink?"

Chuck saw all eyes were on him. "We'd like a bottle of your merl…" Sarah coughed slightly. "A…chardonnay?"

The waiter nodded, and walked away. Chuck resisted the urge to sink into his chair.

* * *

Ellie scanned the coffee house's bulletin board for available space. Unfortunately, there were enough lost dogs and yard sales in the greater Burbank area to make this a difficult task. Finally, she saw a notice saying 'Do you want to hire the greatest band in the world? Call Lester at 555-3294 to ask about Jeffster.' With a sigh of satisfaction, she tacked the blood drive flier right over it.

As she was about to leave, she glanced across the tables, and recognized a young woman seated alone. She walked over, and asked, 'Hannah?"

"Oh, Ellie? Hi." Hannah motioned for Ellie to sit down.

"Thanks. Running around with these fliers is tiring. I'm not in your way or anything?"

"No, no."

"So you're not here with Chuck?"

"No." After a pause, "But he'll be here shortly."

"Oh, ok. He's not late is he?"

"Not really." Hannah looked down at her coffee cup. Ellie couldn't help but notice that there wasn't any steam rising from it. Clearly, she had been here for a while.

"He's really…secretive, isn't he?" Hannah asked after she looked back up at Ellie.

"He can be," Ellie admitted. "He's become a bit more private recently."

"I know he's been through a bad breakup recently, and that probably made him a little more guarded," Hannah commented. "But it sometimes seems like he can be two people."

Ellie had often said the exact same thing, but she didn't want to worry Hannah. "Don't worry. I can tell he likes you. You two will be fine."

Hannah smiled. "So he doesn't have any deep, dark secrets? Nothing to be ashamed of?"

Ellie wasn't sure if Chuck had mentioned Stanford to her, but it wasn't her place to mention it. "No, none at all."

The door to the coffee house opened, and Ellie glanced up. Seeing who was walking in, she added, "Other than him, anyway."

Hannah followed Ellie's eyes and smiled. "Hey Morgan," she said, waving to him.

Morgan walked over to the table. He nodded slightly to Ellie, before turning back to Hannah. "I see you like the coffee here to. I find it has an…insouciant quality to it."

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start drinking coffee?"

"Well, Ellie, I'm management now. Grape soda is more of a … labor kind of drink."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just remember about the blood drive tomorrow. No skipping out, right?" She stood up, nodded goodbye to Hannah, and headed out of the coffee house.

* * *

"Ok, Charles. Spotlight's on you. Tell me about how you proposed to Sarah."

Tracy's question caught Chuck off-guard, and he couldn't remember whether this had been covered in their preparations on the way to the restaurant. After a moment, he decided he'd have to improvise.

"It was on the beach. We have this spot. Our spot. We'd gone out there to look at the stars one night. I told her, 'I know the stars aren't as beautiful as you are, but maybe this could come close,' and I handed her the ring."

Tracy was giving him a wide smile. Beside her, Sarah's expression was unreadable.

"That's so beautiful!" Tracy said. "Wasn't that beautiful, Steve?"

"Hmm, what? Yeah, beautiful."

"So, tell me about your wedding," Tracy leaned forward in interest.

"It was amazing," Chuck spoke up first again. "All our family and friends together, string quartet, the church decorated with gardenias. The reception was outdoors in the evening. Our wedding song, 'At Last', you know it?"

Tracy nodded mutely.

"Yeah, I remember dancing outside to that. It was great. Wasn't it, honey?" He glanced over at Sarah, who was giving him an odd look.

"Lovely. Still, I would have been happy with something nice and simple." Sarah commented.

"Do your families not get along?" Tracy asked, looking at Sarah.

"Oh no, Charles's family is lovely," Sarah asked. "Maybe a bit meddlesome at times, but always nice. Now his friends, on the other hand…"

* * *

"An insouciant quality, huh?" Hannah asked as Morgan sat down in the chair Ellie had just vacated. "I just think it tastes like coffee."

"Well, when you've been around the world like I have, you develop an appreciation." Morgan noticed that one flier had been left on the table. "What Ellie said, about me being afraid of giving blood, that's totally not true. She's just confusing me with someone else."

"Hey, I get it. Needles are scary. It's good that you're willing to give anyway."

Morgan sighed in relief. "I know, they're so big, right? I don't know if I can do it."

"Well, I can teach you some relaxation techniques I learned. You'll barely even notice when the needle goes in."

"Ok, ok, that would be great. You know you don't have to do this, just because I'm your boss."

Hannah shrugged. "I'm not."

"Is it because you're Chuck's girlfriend then?"

"You're my friend, Morgan, that's all."

Morgan looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I'm sorry I pretended to be this brave guy. I guess it's not really me. But I promise, I'll always be honest with you from now on."

Hannah smiled. "That would be nice."

* * *

Sarah stood up. "I hope you'll excuse me, I'm going to go freshen up."

A moment later, Tracy smiled apologetically, and went to follow her, leaving Chuck seated at the table alone with Steve.

"Your wife is mad at you," Steve said after a minute of silence.

"No kidding," Chuck muttered. He wondered if he should make sure that Sarah was ok. Tracy didn't seem to be dangerous, but his instincts weren't always dead on when it came to recognizing enemy agents. Still, she could take care of herself, and Casey was nearby.

"So, movies, huh, that's…cool. What kind of movie do you want to direct?"

Steve gave Chuck a look for a moment, before finally relenting and shrugging. "None of those action films with no plots. I prefer small films. You know, a bunch of people having dinner and talking to each other about what really matters. Nothing the studios would ever want to make."

"Huh," Chuck said, then suppressed a sigh of relief when the waiter approached with the wine. He popped the cork and poured into each of the glasses. Steve barely gave the waiter time to finish pouring before he grabbed the glass. Chuck waited for a moment, debating whether it was a good idea to drink on the job. That was when the flash hit.

The periodic table of the elements surged into his mind, stopping at the element Tl, followed by the sight of a dropper being dipped into a bottle. Chuck turned white, glancing a the wine bottle on the table. He reached over, and smacked the glass out of Steve's hand.

"Dude!"

"Uh, sorry. I'm a bit clumsy today." He looked around. Most of the other patrons, and the restaurant staff, were staring at him now. No one looked familiar, or led to a flash. Still, the message in the flash had been clear. One of Iselin's Agents was somewhere in the restaurant.


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry about the delay. Been out of town for a few days._

_I just filled out one of those 'Do you own Chuck?' surveys in Cosmopolitan magazine (it was in the dentist's waiting room, give me a break). After I answered all the questions, it said I was a 'cold fish.' Maybe I filled it out wrong?_

Chapter 8

Sarah studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Without a doubt, this mission had been wearing her down. Covers always required a great deal of effort to make sure that one's fake identity never wavered, and it was something she had long ago become used to. But her current role of Mrs. Carmichael required much more than the usual effort.

She knew she'd been a bit rough with Chuck earlier. Granted, she was supposed to be. Sarah Carmichael was someone who had come to realize that her current life wasn't something she wanted anymore. This part of being her was something that Sarah Walker shouldn't have any trouble with.

Sarah leaned over the sink to splash water on her face. The gushing water was loud enough that she didn't hear the soft plop of feet hitting ground behind her. She glanced up just in time to see a flash of black, and dove out of the way of the knife thrust towards her. She rolled over and on to her feet, and got a brief glimpse of her adversary. The figure was dressed in black, with a hood hiding any facial features. From the nature of her attacker's movements, Sarah guessed that she was facing a female. Sarah tried to go on the attack, but the hooded figure slashed at her, knocking her off her feet again. The broach she was wearing on her shirt skidded away, taking the mini-camera hidden inside along with it.

"Sarah? Are you ok?" She heard Shaw's voice in her ear. Before she could answer, the knife came at her again, but she was able to knock if out of her attacker's hands. Sarah decided she needed a different tactic. Getting to her feet, she rammed into her enemy, smashing her into a mirror. Sarah managed to land a punch, but then had to move out of the way as the black-dressed figure grabbed a mirror shard and thrust it at her.

* * *

Chuck hurried away from the table, leaving the annoyed and wine-stained Steve behind. He knew that somewhere in the restaurant was a Ring agent that had decided to poison him. What exactly he was going to do when he found that person, that was something he wasn't entirely clear on.

"Chuck? What's going on? What happened?" he heard Shaw ask in his earpiece.

"The wine. It was poisoned."

"What?"

"Yeah, it was laced with…" he struggled to remember his high school chemistry, but was drawing a blank as to what Tl was. "…Tiloolium?" No, that wasn't it.

Everything in the restaurant had returned to normal, the brief scene with the wine now forgotten by most of the patrons. Chuck was able to take adavantage of this, and was approaching the kitchen without anybody noticing.

"Get to safety, Chuck," Shaw instructed. "We'll find who's behind it." There was a pause for a moment. "Chuck, someone attacked Sarah."

Chuck skidded to a halt. "Where is she?"

"She's in the women's bathroom. Casey's coming to you, Chuck. Let him handle it."

Chuck immediately shifted directions and headed towards the bathrooms. He leaned his head towards the door, and could hear crashing sounds coming from inside. He was about to push his way through the door, when he was grabbed from behind.

"She'll be fine, Bartowski," Casey growled. Chuck glanced at him briefly. He was dressed as a dishwasher.

"But…"

"Getting yourself killed won't help her. Tell me about this poison. You're sure it was in the bottle?"

"I don't know how else. I saw the waiter pour it in the glass."

"Did you flash on the waiter?"

"No. He just seemed snooty, not evil. I thought you were supposed to be our waiter, anyway."

"Not enough time to set it up. I had to wash dishes instead." Casey motioned to his apron.

"Wow, Casey, you get all the glamorous assignments."

Casey grunted. "Somebody has to keep an eye on things while you and Walker are playing house. Besides, it's easier to hide a firearm behind an apron. What did the waiter look like?"

"Well, he looked kind of…normal, I guess. I couldn't really see his features behind that beard."

Casey gave Chuck a dirty look. "He was wearing a beard? Did it occur to you that maybe it was false?"

"Geez Casey, am I supposed to assume that everyone with a beard's in disguise? How will I ever be able to go to indie rock concerts?" Chuck turned back to the bathroom door. "We have to help her."

"I told you, Walker can take care of her…" Casey stopped as the bathroom door opened and Sarah walked out.

"Sarah, are you alright?"

Sarah nodded. "I have her chained in there."

"Her?"

"It was a woman."

"Who?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. I wanted to make sure everything was ok here first."

"I'm ok," Chuck said. "Hey, could it have been Tracy that attacked you? She left the table after you."

Sarah thought about it for a moment. "Could be. Where did she go?"

"I don't know. The waiter came right after, and when I flashed on the poisoned bottle…"

"Wait, the bottle was poisoned? Chuck, did you drink anything?" The worry could easily be read on Sarah's face. "Casey, did you see anything?"

"No, I was trying to watch your table, and we couldn't get any cameras set up in time, other than the one on your broach."

"Wait, cameras!" Chuck hurried back into the restaurant, and soon found Tracy and Steve seated back at the table, looking confused and slightly annoyed.

"Chuck? What happened? What's going on?" Tracy looked up at him inquisitively.

Chuck didn't bother to answer. "We need the camera."

"What do you mean, you need the camera?" Steve asked, still clearly not thrilled about being splashed with wine.

"Uh, I'm the manager here," Casey answered, standing behind Chuck. "We'd like to see what happened at the table for quality control purposes. Find out why the wine was so unsatisfactory."

"There was nothing wrong with the wine. That guy's crazy, that's the problem." Steve pointed at Chuck.

"Trust me, we haven't ruled out that possibility. But while you may very well be right," Casey said, "we still need the camera."

"But I need it," Steve protested.

"This camera contains footage for a television show," Tracy added. "It's the property of the show's producers, so we can't just give it to you."

"We assure you we only need it briefly. Then we'll return it to you."

"But I need to leave with it now. I just heard that there's been a Sheronica sighting in the neighborhood, and the tabloids pay big money for any videos of them."

"Wait, you're a paparazzo?" Chuck asked, surprised. "What happened to everything you said about being a serious filmmaker?"

"Movies cost money," Steve shrugged. "But I need the camera."

"I assure you, we'll return the camera to you shortly. In the mean time, perhaps we can interest you in a free dessert?"

* * *

Once they had taken possession of the camera, it was decided that Steve and Tracy were free to go. Chuck suspected that the Carmichael's chances of becoming TV stars had been sufficiently drained now. He didn't feel particularly disappointed by this.

While Sarah returned to the bathroom to retrieve the prisoner, Chuck and Casey met Shaw at the surveillance van. Once there, Chuck watched the footage from the camera. "You know," he said to Casey, "the waiter does look vaguely familiar."

Casey glanced over his shoulder. "The beard's definitely a fake. I'm surprised Walker didn't notice it."

"I didn't notice."

"That I'm not surprised by."

A moment later, they saw Sarah returning, alone. "She escaped," she explained. "It looks like she freed herself, then escaped through the ceiling."

"Then we don't have anything," Shaw said.

"We've got the wine bottle, and we've got the camera," Casey pointed out. "That may give us something. It looks like the waiter was a fake."

Still, everyone was feeling acute disappointment during the ride back to Castle. Once they'd returned, Shaw took the wine bottle in the back to run some tests. Casey followed him shortly after, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.

Sarah had been quiet for the entire trip back, and clearly was upset by the way the mission had turned out. "It wasn't your fault," Chuck told her.

Sarah looked up at him mutely. "I shouldn't have left her there. I lost contact with Shaw, and I wanted to make sure that…everything was ok."

Chuck nodded. "Luckily, somebody shoved the Periodic Table in the Intersect. We'll find her. Do you think it was Tracy?"

"I don't know. She arranged the dinner, and it looked like about her height. Still, she would have had to get back to the table awfully quickly." Sarah returned to silence after that.

"So I guess we're not going to be big stars now," Chuck said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"What?"

"The show. Even if Tracy's not Ring, I don't think we impressed her too much."

"Chuck, we weren't there to impress her. We were there to learn something. Which we didn't."

"Oh I know, believe me. I'm all business here."

"Now you are." Sarah said the words softly, so Chuck could barely hear them.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sarah sighed, clearly not thrilled about continuing the conversation. Finally she said, "We had a plan going in, Chuck. You didn't need to go off-script about proposals and weddings like that."

"But we hadn't thought those details out, and I had to say something. I thought it came out pretty well. Tracy seemed to believe it."

"Oh, you were quite detailed. I'm sure all that time you spent texting with your new friend Hannah was very inspirational."

"Hannah? But we've only been out on a couple of dates! You don't think that I'm planning on…"

"Spies are taught to build a lie on the truth, Chuck. I know you know that."

"But that's not what I built it on!"

"Then what, Chuck?"

Chuck looked away. After everything that had happened, after Prague, he couldn't tell her that he'd imagined proposing to her on the beach. Or how often he'd imagined it. He wondered if Sarah recognized the significance of his choice.

"Just focus on the mission, Chuck," Sarah said. "That's what's important. If the Ring get the information they're looking for, they could find the perfect candidate for their own Intersect. Or they could find you."

"I know."

Sarah sighed. "Look, I'm tired. You should go home and get some rest. We'll have more work to do tomorrow. But at least we should be about finished being undercover now."

* * *

The computer screen continued to zip through millions of images in front of the two mysterious figures. Neither spoke. They had worked together for years, and both knew what was at stake. The mission had not gone well. The two CIA agents had escaped without harm. They had clearly been underestimated. The female agent had been an exceptional fighter, and the male agent had easily recognized the poisoned bottle. Still, Iselin would not accept excuses.

Now they were searching through database after database, under the cover of Schumacher's so-called 'Operation Caboodle.' While their final goal was larger, it was clear that they needed to know who the two feds were. Once they had been dealt with, they could get to Schumacher and tie up the final loose end.

Finally, an image appeared briefly on screen, and the man quickly reached over to the keyboard to stop the search. He looked to the woman, who nodded. He retrieved a phone, then spoke.

"Iselin." There was a pause. "No, it won't happen again. We've found one of the two agents." He leaned over towards the computer screen. "An internet dating website, actually." He looked at the name next to the picture on the screen. "His name is Morgan Grimes. We should be able to pick him up first thing in the morning."

The man hung up, and turned to the woman. "Morgan Grimes. Not much of a name for a CIA agent. Could be part of a cover."

"Maybe. But it gives a Burbank address. Shouldn't be too hard to check."

They immediately left the room, not bothering to turn the monitor off. In the dark light, the name could no longer be sign clearly, leaving only the picture of Chuck Bartowski's smiling face in clear view.


	9. Chapter 9

_I do not own 'Chuck.' This should be obvious to anyone who's read any of "Chuck vs. the Side Effect," the unfinished (I'll get back to it, I swear!) story about Chuck, newly cohabitating with Sarah, being tortured by strange dreams caused by the Intersect, which forces him to see psychiatric help. We all know anyone who owned the show would not stoop so low to use such a ridiculous premise._

_By the way, the ads for next week's episode look really cool. Apparently, it's about Chuck, newly cohabitating with Sarah, being tortured by strange dreams caused by the Intersect, and being forced to see psychiatric help. _

_Oh well, I doubt the dreams in the actual episode will involve Frankenstein and Gilligan's Island. The actual writers have standards…_

**Chapter 9**

Chuck's eyelids were beginning to droop when he parked the Herder into his usual parking space at his complex. It had been a long day, and all of the physical, and emotional, activities had clearly got the better of him. He hadn't liked seeing Sarah upset, he certainly didn't like seeing her upset at him, and he definitely didn't like seeing her upset at him for reasons he couldn't even figure out. He wanted to dismiss it all to disappoint over the assassin's escape, but they'd had mission setbacks before, and she hadn't reacted like this.

As he approached his door, he looked forward to a few moments of peace and quiet before flopping his head down on his pillow. Instead, he was greeted by the sound of raucous laughter.

"You have to be kidding! How can you say that Batman is cooler than Superman?" Chuck recognized Morgan's voice.

"Superman's just this guy who lucked into all these powers, and spends his time trying to hide his true identity. Batman's got this dark side to him, and he has to rely on just his wits. Plus, he doesn't always he knows what's best for everybody." Chuck stopped in shock. The voice was Hannah's.

He walked over to the den to see what was going on, and found both of them seated on the couch, Morgan with his feet up on the coffee table and Hannah with hers tucked underneath her. Several comic books, including some Chuck recognized as his own, were spread out across the table.

"Uh, hey guys. What's up?"

"Oh, hey Chuck." Morgan jumped to his feet. "Hannah was just waiting for you, and I figured she should wait in here instead of outside. So we've been kind of, hanging out."

"I see that."

"Well, um, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get myself a grape soda."

Hannah giggled. "What happened to Mr. Management and his coffee?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm off the clock now."

"Uh huh. You're quite the complicated guy."

Morgan smiled. "Yeah, that's me."

"Oh, hey Morgan?"

"Yeah, Hannah?"

"Could you get me one too?"

Once Morgan had left for the kitchen, Hannah turned to face Chuck. "You look dressed up. More appropriate for a date than to rescues John Casey when his car breaks down."

Chuck admonished himself silently for not coming up with a better story. "Well, it was a last minute thing, so I'd already dressed for our date. I'm sorry I had to cancel."

"That's ok. Morgan and I had a good time."

"Yeah, you never told me you liked comic books."

"Well, you never told me you liked them either. I should be used to that, though. You don't seem to tell me a lot of things about yourself. Pretty strange for someone who likes to talk as much as you do."

"Well, telling girls that I like comic books generally has not been a winning strategy in the past."

"That's not really the part I'm worried about. I just want you to let me in. I hope I mean enough to you for you to do that."

Morgan returned with two cans of grape soda, and handed one to Hannah. She studied him for a moment, then grabbed the back of his head, and pushed her lips to his. Chuck stared at this, shock bouncing through his sleepy brain.

"I, um…" Morgan sputtered after Hannah ended the kiss. "You're welcome? For the grape soda?" He glanced at Chuck, and shrugged helplessly. "Maybe I should…" he said before quickly turning tail and running away.

"Why did you do that?" Chuck asked, when finally able to speak.

Hannah studied him for a while before answering. "You're shocked, confused. Maybe slightly annoyed. But you don't look angry, or jealous."

"Of course I'm upset! You just kissed my best friend!"

"No. I think you wish you were. But you're not." Hannah pointed to the couch, and Chuck sat down.

"Look, I've been thinking about us, and it occurred to me, that maybe this hasn't been fair to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to be with me because you want to be with me, or because you feel some sort of obligation because I moved here out of the blue after I'd met you?"

Chuck was surprised by the question, and didn't answer immediately. "Of course I want to be with you."

"Chuck, it's ok. I like you, I do. But I didn't move here just because of you. I mean, the stories you told, they made the Buy More seem like some sort of crazy adventure. And believe it or not, you were right. I like it here. So, if your heart isn't in this, it's ok."

Chuck sat there for a moment, telling himself that his weariness was the reason why he wasn't immediately telling Hannah that she was wrong. Finally, a thought pushed its way into his brain. "Kissing Morgan just now, that wasn't just to try to get me angry, was it?"

Hannah turned back towards the hallway. "I wanted to see what it was like. Your stories didn't do Morgan justice. He's sweet, caring, and once he gets over his silly adolescent fears, very open. Kind of refreshing." She gave Chuck a pointed look.

"So, Chuck, I release you from any obligations you may feel. It doesn't matter if you were actually helping John, or if you were out with that ex-girlfriend of yours you still seem to be hung up on. I'm ok, either way. Just do me a favor, and talk to him." She pointed down the hallway. "He's too loyal to you to make a move."

Hannah stood up. "Good night, Chuck. I'll see at work tomorrow."

"Uh, I'm off tomorrow." Chuck was still too surprised to say more.

"Well, I'll see you at the blood drive then. Tell Morgan good night for me." She walked over to the door, and without another word, disappeared into the night.

* * *

Despite his weariness, Chuck still slept fitfully that night. At first, his mind pored over what Hannah had said. She was wrong about him. He had wanted to be with her, but his spy life had prevented it. He couldn't blame her about being upset by his always being closed off to her, but he had no choice. And she hadn't seemed all that patient with him either.

As the night went on, though, he began to realize he was also feeling a bit relieved. Maybe he had felt a bit of pressure when Hannah had arrived unannounced at the Buy More. And the novelty of dating someone who was 100% non-spy had worn off a little bit. A surprising thought occurred to Chuck: what if part of his attraction to Hannah was some deep-down suspicion that she was not who she said she was? Her reappearance after their brief encounter on the plane had been somewhat odd.

Which brought his mind back to the other female spy in his life. It wasn't just the promise of danger that attracted him to Sarah. He had admitted the depths of his feelings towards her before, but had decided to move on when it was clear he had blown his chance. That much was certainly clear after seeing her recent frustration with him. There was little more he could do now than be the spy she expected him to be.

Finally, Chuck decided that sleep was hopeless, and he should try to focus on the mission. He dragged himself out of bed, dressed, and headed out of the bedroom. He could hear Morgan snoring softly in the other room. He'd have to talk to him tomorrow. Even though he had to admit that deep down it stung a bit to lose the girl to his best friend, he should at least bestow his blessing on them. At least somebody should be happy. After all, life was not like one of Schumacher's shows, fueled by poor communication and backstabbing.

It took keeping all four windows rolled down to do it, but Chuck managed to stay awake on the drive to Castle. He let himself in, kept his eyes open long enough for the retinal scan, and headed down the stairs. He went over to the screen, and found the camera footage that Steve had taken. He sat down on the chair, and played the tape. Then he rewound, and played it again.

After the seventh time through, he finally found a second where the waiter turned his head. Slowing the tape down, he found one frame where there was a fuzzy glimpse of his face, with the beard shifted slightly.

Thanks to the lack of sleep, he wasn't ready for the flash. As the first wave of images hit, he felt his mind whirl, and he fell back out of the chair.

* * *

"Chuck!"

Sarah hurried over to the lying form. She could hear him breathing, vanquishing her original fears. She nodded to Casey and Shaw, then called out Chuck's name again.

Chuck's eyes flickered, and a pair of brown eyes looked up at her.

"Chuck? Are you ok? What happened?"

"Michael Barnes." The words came out as a mumble.

"What?"

Chuck finally sat up, and looked around. "Where am I?"

"You're in Castle, Moron." Casey's voice was kinder than his words.

"Oh." Chuck looked back at Sarah. "I know who he is. The waiter. His name is Michael Barnes." Sarah helped him to his feet as he said this. "He was in the army up until two years ago. He was dishonorably discharged after an incident in Iraq. They thought he killed a fellow officer, but they couldn't prove it. After he came home, he disappeared along with his girlfriend."

The others turned to the screen, still showing the paused picture of Barnes in the false beard. "And now he works for Iselin," Shaw said. "Nice work, Chuck."

"But why did you come here in the middle of the night?" Sarah asked.

"Couldn't sleep. Too much happened last night. And then after Hannah broke up with me…"

"Hannah broke up with you?" Sarah tried to ignore the brief feeling of excitement she felt.

"Yeah. Turns out, she prefers Morgan."

A burst of laughter broke out from behind Sarah. "Bartowski, are you telling me…that you got dumped…for Grimes?" Casey guffawed.

"Casey!"

Casey ignored Sarah's anger and continued laughing. Next to him, Shaw asked, "Wait, Grimes, is that the short bearded guy?" Seeing Casey nod, he began laughing as well.

Sarah gave the two of them annoyed look, then said, "C'mon Chuck, I want to make sure you're ok. Over there, away from these two."

Once they'd found their way into the interrogation room, Sarah sat Chuck down on the table. She shined a penlight in each of his eyes.

"Doesn't look like you have a concussion, at least." She put down the light and looked at Chuck. "I'm sorry about Hannah, Chuck."

"It's probably for the best. She wanted something I couldn't give her."

Sarah nodded. "Still, that's hardly reason to come running over here in the middle of the night."

"I needed to do something. After screwing up last night with all my going off-script, I needed to make things right."

"You didn't screw anything up," Sarah interrupted. "You did fine, really well actually. I was mad at myself mostly."

"But you seemed so upset with me. Why?"

"Because I liked it."

"What?" Chuck looked up in surprise at her immediate response.

"What you said. Proposing on the beach. The wedding. Everything. I liked it."

Chuck smiled. "Really?"

"Yes Chuck, really."

"But why did you…"

"Well, after Prague, it seemed pretty clear that wasn't something that could happen. And this mission, pretending to be Mrs. Carmichael, answering all these in-depth questions about feelings and relationships, it's not something I'm good with. And, in my defense, having to see you with Hannah…"

"She wasn't, I mean, Hannah was nice and everything, but she wasn't…you."

Sarah smiled. "Maybe you should get hit in the head more often."

"Well, I'm in the right line of work for it."

Sarah's expression turned serious. "Now we have to find this Barnes, if he's really working for Iselin." Chuck stood up, and the two of them headed back to the door.

"Sarah, wait?"

"Hmm?" The blonde agent looked back.

"What about Shaw?"

"Well, I'm sure he's got some sort of plan coming together about finding him."

"No, I mean, about you and Shaw."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, aren't you two…together?"

Sarah looked at Chuck in confusion. "We've had dinner a couple of times, as colleagues. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Well, yeah. We have a lot in common, and we have our similar mission experiences, but, well it's like that woman said yesterday. He's got the personality of a dishrag."

Chuck couldn't help but smile as they left the room.

* * *

Clearly, being on the side of law and order had its costs when it came to undercover assignments. This thought crossed his mind as he walked into the Buy More where the CIA agent Morgan Grimes "worked." In addition to the sizable paychecks, working for the Ring allowed one to spend one's time in glamorous locations and five-star hotels. This was especially true of his own somewhat unusual cover. Spending eight hours in retail was not a frequent part of it.

He walked in, looking for the agent, but didn't see him. No problem. He noticed a help desk in the center of the store, and headed in that direction. The two men standing there looked like they could barely put together a sentence, but he was used to dealing with that type. The younger man appeared to be from India by way of the valley, while the older appeared to have just crawled out of the back of a VW van and had likely inhaled some exhaust fumes on the way out.

"Excuse me," he said to them, as politely as he could manage.

"Yeah, what is it?" the younger one asked, though the older one gave him a curious look.

"I was wondering if you could help me. I'm looking for a Morgan Grimes."

"Grimes. He's not here, I think he's…"

"Hold it!" the older man interrupted. "I know you! You're Shane Chance!"

"No way, it can't be." The younger man gave him a careful once over. "No wait, if you ignore the beard, and squint, and imagine a trucker's cap… Hey Jeff, you're right!"

"This is so awesome, I'm a huge fan," the older man exclaimed. "The way you're always doing everything you can to avoid anything meaningful or productive on your show, you're like my inspiration!"

"Seriously," the other chimed in. "And you and Veronica, I tell you I must have downloaded and watched your…tape…a million times."

The Ring agent didn't feel embarrassed about this. The tape was a carefully created forgery. "Where's…."

"Yeah, where's Veronica? Don't tell me she's still working on that album?"

"Ooh yeah, I've got it on pre-order."

"Really, I was just going to snatch a copy when it came here. They'll never notice."

"Huh, good point."

"…Morgan Grimes!"

The two idiots finally stopped babbling and looked at him. "Yeah, why do you want to see him anyway?"

"Well, we may need him for an upcoming episode. Veronica and I plan to 'break up' again on the show soon. So we figure she should try internet dating. We wanted to check this guy out as a possible blind date."

"You're kidding, right? She's far too much woman for Morgan. She'd probably kill him."

"That is certainly a possibility."

"Well, he's off today. But I think he's going to be at the blood drive later."

"Sure, if he doesn't chicken out again."

"Blood drive?"

"Yeah, one of our fellow Nerd Herder's sister is running a blood drive, and Morgan _says_ he's going to donate. You'll find him there, if he doesn't decide to leave the country in fear. The drive's at the community center, six blocks down the street."

"Excellent. Thank you."

"Hey, maybe we could have a cameo on the show? We're in a band, you know. We could be like playing in the background at the restaurant when they're on their date or something. It'd be epic!"

The Ring agent known as Shane Chance walked away, trying to ignore the two buffoons. Sometimes, not even his job was glamorous.


	10. Chapter 10

_I don't own 'Chuck.' If I did, I'd be out celebrating the Season 4 pickup like only television producers can. The fact that I have no idea what that would be is even further proof that I don't own 'Chuck.' I'm guessing it involves World of Warcraft and lots of Red Bull._

**Chapter 10**

"You alright, Chuck?"

"Oh yeah, I'm feeling much better." His reasons for feeling better didn't have much to do with the injury that Shaw was actually asking about, of course. Still, Chuck couldn't very well tell the other agent that Sarah had said she'd had no romantic interest in him. So, he opted for the short response and a quick smile at Sarah.

Chuck knew that his relationship with Sarah hadn't really changed. But resolving Sarah's anger towards him, and admitting to himself about how he felt, was certainly a step in the right direction. And Chuck had to admit that he'd taken some delight at knowing that Sarah had been hurting as much as he had the past few months. He wasn't proud of that, but it was something he couldn't help but take comfort in.

"So we know who our mystery assassins are, but where does that get us?" Sarah asked. She hadn't returned Chuck's smile the moment before, but he could see that she seemed much more at ease than she did the previous day.

"Not much further. We haven't found a way to connect them to Iselin, or to Caul," Shaw said, seated at the conference table.

Chuck glanced up at the image of Michael Barnes that had been captured from the restaurant footage. "I can't help but feel like I've seen him before, even before the restaurant."

"Could you have seen him at the show auditions, perhaps?" Shaw asked. "Maybe one of the other candidates?"

"I don't think so," Chuck replied, and Sarah shook her head as well.

"Anywhere else? In the room where Schumacher took you, maybe? This is important, Chuck," Shaw added when Chuck had replied no again. "If we can connect Barnes to Iselin, we should be able to put a stop the Ring's plans with Project Outsource."

"What about Schumacher? Can we show the picture to him?" Chuck asked. "He might be able to connect him to Iselin."

"We could. Eventually," Shaw replied. "That may be taking time we don't have."

Chuck nodded. Schumacher was now at a CIA safe house several hours away, with limited communication in or out. He sighed. They were at another impasse.

"Hey!" Casey's voice called out from the other end of the room, where he had been doing routine surveillance at the Buy More. "I think we've got something!"

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like our boy came to us." Everyone crowded around the monitor Casey was seated in front of. Chuck could see the black and white image of a man bearing a resemblance to Barnes at the Nerd Herd desk.

"Then they found us?"

"Looks like it."

"We have to hurry over there! He could hurt one of the other employees."

"I could think of worse things."

Chuck was too busy running up the Castle steps to respond to Casey's barb.

* * *

There didn't seem to be any signs of carnage in the Buy More, to Chuck's relief. The place was in more than the usual amount of disarray, but there wasn't any evidence of violence. He saw no sign of Morgan or Hannah, but Jeff and Lester were at the Nerd Herd desk, intently watching something on a laptop.

"Hey guys, have you seen Morgan?"

"Charles," Lester said, barely looking up from the computer screen. "You're not on today."

"No. Is Morgan here?" he repeated the question.

"No Morgan. No Big Mike," Lester responded. "All authority is off at your sister's little blood drive."

"And when the cat's away, the mice will play." Jeff punctuated this by awkwardly high-fiving Lester. Chuck glanced around the store. If there was any doubt about the lack of management on the premises, the many annoyed-looking customers milling about the store put an end to them.

"Shouldn't you help some of these people?"

"Charles," Lester spoke as if he was talking to a child, "we have much more important things to do. We're only three episodes into our Sheronica marathon."

"Sheronica marathon?"

"That's right. This is important research."

"We're going to be on the show," Jeff added.

"What?"

"Oh yeah, Shane Chance himself was here. Told us personally he wanted Jeffster on his show."

"Practically begged."

"So we're going through each episode to prepare ourselves. We should be done in, oh, fourteen hours. So the customers will have to wait."

Chuck lost interest in the shoppers' plight when he suddenly realized why Michael Barnes had looked vaguely familiar. "Are you sure he was looking for you, and not me?"

"Jealousy is an ugly emotion, Charles. He was looking for us. Well, us and Morgan."

"Morgan?"

"Yeah, would you believe it? He wanted Grimes on the show too."

* * *

"Michael Barnes is Shane Chance?"

"I'm sure of it." Chuck was still catching his breath after running back to Castle. "And for some reason he's looking for Morgan. He must want him to get to me. And now he's going to Ellie's blood drive. We have to hurry!"

"We're going there in a moment, Chuck," Shaw responded. "I need to call in to Beckman to let her know what's going on. We should have enough now to send a team to take down all of the computers back at the studio, and bring in Iselin."

"Everything will be ok, Chuck. Nothing's going to happen to Morgan, or your sister."

Chuck nodded at Sarah's comforting words. He still felt confused by everything, though. "I think the Ring has gone off the deep end," he remarked. "Why use recognizable people as assassins?"

Shaw shrugged. "It actually makes some weird sort of sense. Nobody ever takes them seriously when they're 'Sheronica.' If people just see them as vacuous celebrities, they don't really think too deeply about their actions. So they're perpetually underestimated."

"And if anybody can understand being underestimated, it's you, Bartowski. Low expectations is your biggest weapon."

Chuck reluctantly admitted that Casey had a point. "But that means they are probably more dangerous than we realize. We have to find them now!"

"Ok Chuck," Shaw relented. "You and Sarah go to the community center and see if you can find them. But be careful."

A moment later, Chuck and Sarah were speeding away in the Porsche. Though still worried about his sister and friend, having a plan of action made him feel better. In the mean time, a stray thought made him smile, and he turned to Sarah. "I guess you're going to the blood drive after all."

* * *

"Okay Mike, it looks like you're all done. Are you ok?" Even though Chuck had referred to his Buy More boss as 'Big Mike,' Ellie couldn't bring herself to do so.

"Oh sure, I've got plenty of blood to spare. Now, where are those free sandwiches you promised?" Ellie struggled to help the large man to his feet, wishing that Devon's hospital schedule could have allowed him to be here. If nothing else, she'd gladly share her donor shepherding duties to him. Especially large donor shepherding.

Once she'd helped Big Mike to the post-donation snack table, she looked toward the entrance, and recognized the two figures who were entering. To her surprise, Morgan had shown up after all. She was also surprised to see him accompanied by Hannah. Ellie would have to talk with Chuck later about this. She hurried over to them.

"So, you made it after all?" Ellie asked Morgan when she found them at the sign-in table. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he shrugged.

"You'll be great, Morgan," Hannah said. She reached into her pocket, and handed the matronly nurse on duty her donor card.

"You have one, dear?" the nurse asked Morgan.

"You mean I have to pay, too?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "No, it just provides information. He's on O-negative," she told the nurse. Clearly, she had spent too many years with Chuck's best friend. She knew far too much about him, including his blood type.

"Is that good?"

"It is for us."

The nurse handed Morgan a form to sign, which he quickly glanced over with a wild-eyed expression. The nurse took the form with a curt nod, before something behind Ellie grabbed her attention.

"Huh, I wonder what that ruckus is about?"

* * *

A blood drive. The setting couldn't have been better if Barnes had picked it himself. Any place where people willingly let themselves be stuck with needles was the perfect place for something to go wrong. Which was exactly what was going to happen to Charles Bartowski. If he was willing to have his blood taken from him by needle, it would be easy enough to give him something in return. Something fatal.

Before leaving for the community center, Barnes had made sure to post a few messages on various websites. And sure enough, they had done the trick. They had arrived to find the various paparazzi, hangers-on and wannabes standing outside. The perfect diversion and camouflage they'd need to finish the job.

He nodded to his partner, and they headed towards the building, followed at a short distance by a few of the more ambitious paparazzi. "This should be easy."

The woman grunted. "That's what you said last time. Let's see if you can do better here than you did with the wine."

He gave her a dark look. "I'm not the one who got caught and needed to be rescued."

"I didn't need to be rescued. I had everything under…"

She stopped when an officious-looking dark-haired woman hurried over to them. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Uh, we just wanna give some blood and stuff, you know," Barnes easily slipped into Shane Chance mode.

"Yeah, we just brought some with us," Barnes's partner chimed in. "Where can we put it?"

"Yeah, my baby cut herself shaving this morning. Figured, why let it go to waste?"

The woman gave the two of them a perplexed look. "You brought blood?"

"Of course. This is a blood drive, right?"

"Ok, um…" The woman lost her train of thought as someone took a picture of them with a cell phone. "I don't know what's wrong with you people, but…" A few more of the entourage had wandered up into the hall and were looking about. The woman left to control the situation, finally leaving Barnes alone.

He turned to his partner. "I'm going to make sure Carmichael's here. You know what to do."

"Right, see that you don't screw up this time," she responded, before heading to the back.

Barnes shook his head. At one time, he had loved her. When he was Iraq, he had spent every waking moment thinking about her. When he'd returned, she'd been there for him. She agreed to disappear with him. She'd helped him market the skills he'd learned while in the army. She'd even helped connect him to the Ring.

But after a few years on missions, they'd grown apart. Unfortunately, their cover as "Sheronica" meant they couldn't actually be apart. He had stopped trusting her long ago, and was pretty sure that he had dodged a few stray bullets in past missions that hadn't actually been that stray. Still, they had a job to complete, so all of that would have to wait.

Barnes walked through the room, but saw nobody that looked like Carmichael. To calm his growing frustration, he imagined various methods of torture that he could apply to the two idiots at the appliance store. He didn't think they'd lied to him, but they clearly couldn't be relied upon for useful information. Could the agent have already left? They could still find him, of course, but Iselin had made it clear that time was of the essence.

He returned to the front of the community center where his partner's disapproval was waiting for him. Just before he reached her, he heard a man talking on a cell phone off to the side of the room. From the snatch of conversation he heard, it sounded like he was having an even worse day.

"Yes sir, I realize that six complaints in an hour is a Buy More record. I'll be back shortly. No, I had to step out, and so did my Assistant Manager Morgan Grimes. We will discipline the employees when we return."

Barnes stopped in his tracks and turned to talk to the large man. "Excuse me, did I hear you say the name Morgan Grimes?"

The man gave him a curious glance. "That's right. Why?"

"I went to high school with a Morgan Grimes, and I'd really like to get the chance to catch up with him. Is he here?"

"Uh yeah, he's right over there." The Barnes followed the man's finger toward one of the booths. There was a short, bearded man seated there, but no Carmichael.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah man, that's Grimes. Maybe you went to school with a different guy…"

Barnes walked away, and immediately found his partner waiting for him. "Well?"

"He gave a fake name."

"Jesus, Michael, can't you get any information right?"

"Look, _Heather_, it's not all lost. This guy Grimes must know Carmichael. We can torture his location out of him or something."

"Never mind that. Looks like you got lucky." Barnes followed her gaze. Through the glass doors he could see a Porsche drive in to the lot. Inside was Carmichael, as well as the female agent that had been posing as his wife. The lead had been correct after all, and he was ready for them.

It was show time.


	11. Chapter 11

_I still don't own Chuck. NBC actually offered it to me, but then they changed their mind and gave it to Jay Leno._

_See, I can be topical…three months too late._

**Chapter 11**

"Chuck! You're here!"

Chuck's felt relief rush over him as he saw that his sister was fine. Still, he didn't welcome the delay, since Barnes had a head start on them, and was probably in the building somewhere. "Hey Ellie," he said, "You knew I couldn't say no to this. And you know where I live."

"Good, I'm glad you listened to me." Ellie looked past Chuck, a slightly surprised look on her face. "Hi Sarah. You came after all."

"Well, Chuck talked me into it." Chuck could see that she was anxious to move on as well.

"Uh Ellie, is Morgan here?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah actually, he is. With Hannah." Ellie added the last part pointedly.

"Ok." Chuck said, hoping to keep things moving. "I want to go talk to him."

"I'll bet. He's over there, doing the blood drive questionnaire. Just be quick, and whatever you do, don't do anything to scare him."

"Yeah, what could possibly be scary about any of this?" Chuck muttered to himself as he and Sarah headed inside.

* * *

"Have you had any chest pain or respiratory problems recently?" The nurse didn't look up from her clipboard as she asked this.

"You mean before right now?" Morgan asked. Next to him, Hannah gave him a comforting smile, and touched his arm.

"That's 'no' for both of us," Hannah responded.

The nurse nodded, and moved on to the next question. "In the past twelve months, have you had a tattoo applied, or an ear or skin piercing?"

"Uh no. I'd never desecrate this temple," Morgan responded, pointing at himself.

"I have a tattoo on my lower back, but I got it more than a year ago."

Morgan looked over at Hannah after her answer. "Really? That's uh…" he swallowed, "that's so hot."

The nurse raised an eyebrow, before returning to the questionnaire. Hannah smiled back at Morgan.

"In the past 12 months have you had or been treated for syphilis or gonorrhea?"

"Uh no."

Hannah frowned at Morgan's questioning glance. "Are you really going to ask me that?" She shook her head. "Never go to a blood drive for a first date," she said ruefully.

"This is a date? But what about…Chuck!" Morgan sputtered as he saw Chuck and Sarah approaching.

"Hey, uh, buddy, I need to talk to you."

Morgan had known this was coming. "I know. I'm sorry about last night. She kissed me!"

"You didn't seem to mind," Hannah commented dryly.

"That's not actually while I'm here. I just…" Chuck turned to look at the nurse, who was watching them intently. He motioned for Morgan and Hannah to follow him. "Look, I just think maybe the two of you should go."

"Chuck, Morgan needs to do this," Hannah spoke up. "You can't let any bitterness over our breaking up take that away from him. Although," she looked over at Sarah, "you certainly seemed to move on pretty quickly."

"Wait, you broke up?"

"I was going to tell you that, Morgan. But I do think the two of us need some space, and…"

"Is everything ok?"

Everyone turned to see Ellie walking over to the booth.

"Uh, yeah, we're just..."

"Look, this place has become a mess. There are strange people wandering around with cameras, not to mention two of the dumbest people I've ever met."

Chuck gave Sarah a meaningful glance.

Ellie misread her brother's glance. "Yes, Chuck that includes Jeff and Lester. But anyway," she said, leading the four of them back to the table, "I need to keep everybody moving, before this turns into a complete disaster." She turned to the nurse. "Harriet, have you finished with their questionnaires?" she asked, pointing at Morgan and Hannah.

"Just finished now."

"Great. You two can go on." Ellie grabbed a chair and sat down. "Harriet, could you go find some more cotton balls in the back? We're running low."

The nurse grimaced, but eventually walked away. Ellie turned to Chuck and Sarah and smiled. "I guess I'll have to handle the two of you myself."

* * *

Harriet Collins did not consider herself to be a nosy person. Sure, working as a nurse allowed her to hear the occasional conversation that she probably shouldn't. That couldn't be helped. She couldn't very well leave a patient just because of what might some friend or loved one might say; that wouldn't be professional. Besides, Harriet considered herself to be a student of human nature. And when what she heard was salacious or revealing, that wasn't her fault, was it?

This was why she liked working the blood drive. So many questions, so many tense situations. The encounter between the four people just now had certainly seemed promising. But of course, the officious Dr. Woodcomb just had to send her away. It wasn't fair. She deserved her fun, especially now that 'Guiding Light' had been cancelled.

She thought about this as she walked into the small closet used for storage during the blood drive. Naturally, the cotton balls were on a low shelf, forcing her to kneel down. The freshly starched uniform made this even less comfortable than usual. She sighed, thinking of how little she asked for in this world.

She was so focused on her plight that she didn't notice the door open behind her.

* * *

"Ok, are you guys ready?"

Chuck glanced at Sarah. Clearly, they had to make sure that Barnes wasn't around, but Ellie would be difficult to get away from. "Uh, sure."

"Great. Name?"

Chuck gave his sister a look. "Are you serious?"

"These blood drives _are_ serious. I can't skip any steps just because I'm acquainted with the donor."

"Acquainted? I'm your brother! You changed my diapers!"

Chuck glanced over at Sarah, who was trying not to laugh. Finally, she spoke up, "Are you sure we can't skip ahead a bit?"

"Fine. Next question. Have you been under a doctor's care in the last 12 months?"

Chuck thought about the various injuries he'd sustained in the past year, not to mention the removal and addition of various Intersects. "No." Sarah shook her head as well.

"In the past 3 years, how much time have you spent outside the US or Canada?"

Chuck mentally counted the missions that had taken him out of the country. Certainly more Latin American war zones than he'd ever planned on seeing. "Just the couple of days in Paris."

Ellie and Chuck both looked to Sarah. Chuck knew that she couldn't very well answer that question. But the clock was ticking, and from what Ellie had told them, "Sheronica" was clearly somewhere in the building.

Sarah clearly understood the situation as well. Chuck was impressed with how subtly she was able to shifted her good-natured "cover" expression to one of discomfort and nervousness.

"I'm sorry Ellie, I thought I could do this, but the whole needle thing. I have to go." She abruptly stood up and ran off.

* * *

Once she was sure that Chuck's sister wasn't watching, Sarah doubled back. Ellie's comment about strange people wandering about made her sure that Barnes and his partner were there. She needed to find them, before anyone, especially Chuck, was put in danger.

She scanned the room as she walked past. There were a few people lying on beds, each with a tube strapped to his or her arm. Clearly, the blood drive was in full force. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Morgan and Hannah lying on two of the beds. They seemed safe. So far, at least.

Several nurses were moving around busily, checking on the donors, and connecting IVs. Nothing appeared suspicious at first. Then Sarah realized that the nurse that had been talking to Morgan and Hannah wasn't there. Ellie had given her a specific task, which could explain her absence. Still, how hard could it be to find cotton balls?

Sarah looked around for a storage room or supply closet. She found a door off to the site, and carefully opened the door.

She immediately noticed the body, and the marks on her neck. Worse yet, the nurse's uniform had been removed. So the female Ring Agent she'd faced at the restaurant was there somewhere.

Though the gravity of the situation was clear, Sarah didn't panic. That, and her years of training, allowed Sara to duck out of view behind the door as soon as she heard the footsteps outside. She knew exactly who it was, and quickly swept his legs out from under him as he entered the room.

* * *

"In the past year, have you come into contact with blood that wasn't yours?"

Practically every mission, Chuck thought to himself. "No," he said aloud.

Ellie jotted something down on the sheet. "Next question: What's going on between you and Sarah?"

"Uh Ellie, I don't think that's on the form."

"I'm the blood drive coordinator. I have the authority to edit the questions when I feel it's necessary." She gave her brother a long look. "It's necessary."

"Ellie…"

Chuck's protest was quickly cut off. "Chuck, I realize you think I'm prying, and maybe I am. But I've watched you spend months mooning over Sarah, then finally you seemed like you moved on with Hannah. And now it looks you've changed your mind again. And apparently managed to shove Hannah into Morgan's arms." Ellie made a face at this last part.

Hannah and I weren't really right for each other. And I'm happy for her and Morgan."

"And Sarah?"

"I don't know. I think it's possible that we could get back together."

"And that's what you want?"

Chuck paused for only a moment. "Yes."

Ellie nodded. "Ok, then. You know I've always liked Sarah, and I'd love it if you two were a couple again." She noticed the concern on Chuck's face as he looked around the room for her. "One thing though."

"What's that?"

"I really hoped she'd have the courage to give blood. Sarah's beautiful and sweet, but she's so…fragile."

* * *

Michael Barnes fell crashing to the ground after another kick from Sarah. He glanced down on the ground, looking at the remnants of his truckers cap. He tossed the cap on top of the cooler he had crashed into. "I guess I've been outed," he wheezed.

"It's over," Sarah said. "We're bringing in Iselin right now."

"You sure about that? He's more slippery than you think." Barnes reached behind him, and pulled out the knife he'd hidden. Before he could thrust it at Sarah, she hit his forearm, sending it crashing to the ground.

"We'll see about that." She ducked a punch, and hit Barnes in the gut. "By the way. I hate your show."

"Me too," he admitted, struggling to catch his breath. He picked up the knife, and lunged it at Sarah. She easily knocked him down, sending him hurtling down towards the cooler. The knife caught on a packet of blood inside, causing a stream of it to drip onto the floor.

"Now, tell me where your partner is," Sarah said, as she stood over him.

"Closer than you think," Barnes spat.

Before she could react, Sarah felt the plastic tubing wrapping around her neck.

* * *

_In case it was causing any confusion, I completely forgot that Jeff's last name was Barnes when I named the character 'Michael Barnes' in this story. Maybe I should have gone back to Korhonen…_

_I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. We're pretty close to the end now. Please, if you get a chance, let me know how it's going by reviewing. I totally appreciate any feedback, even if it's to tell me that I'm a hack that should stay as far away from a keyboard as possible._


	12. Chapter 12

_I don't own 'Chuck.' I shared my idea for the season finale with the real owners, but the whole 'Burbank is actually purgatory and everybody's dead' concept didn't really appeal to them. They told me Burbank as purgatory was kind of redundant…_

Chapter 12

Casey stared out at the deserted parking garage, waiting. Upstairs, Shaw and the various agents were on clean-up duty, removing any and all evidence found in any of the production company's offices or computers. Any confidential information that the Ring had managed to steal behind the guise of Project Outsource was to be seized. Casey had stayed behind to make sure Iselin or any of his Ring buddies couldn't interfere with anything. This suited Casey just fine. Digging through computer drives was something he'd gladly leave to the Chuck Bartowskis of the world. He was a man of action.

As if on cue, he noticed a limousine appear from the labyrinthine tunnels of the garage. Casey moved further into the shadows, but the car stopped before reaching him.

Casey waited expectantly. He'd been told that Iselin, just like any Hollywood hotshot, often traveled by limo. Sure enough, a white-haired man appeared in the garage and walked silently towards his waiting ride. Casey flexed his knuckles in anticipation. They had him.

"Shaw," Casey whispered into his com link. "I see Iselin."

"Ok, sit tight. We're almost done in here, so I'll send some agents for backup."

Casey studied the man walking toward the limo. His gait was somewhat stiff, the movement of a man no longer in the prime of his life. "Don't really need it."

Casey thought he heard a sigh from the other end. "Just don't do anything stupid. Someone will be there shortly."

Iselin was about to enter the limousine, which meant he'd be making his escape. Backup or no, Casey had to act. He moved out of his hiding place, and ran toward the Ring agent. "Iselin!" he yelled, brandishing his firearm. "Don't move! We have you."

Nonplussed, Iselin nodded towards the car. The front doors opened, and two men exited. Casey ducked out of the way as the two honchos fired at him.

"Just like a rich terrorist," Casey muttered to himself. "Getting others to do their dirty work for them." He took another couple of shots, hitting one of Iselin's henchmen in the chest. The other one took a few more shots at Casey before running back into the limo.

Seeing the black vehicle bearing down on him, Casey fired a few times at the windshield before diving out of the way. The limo careened past, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake. Casey got back to his feet, and grunted in annoyance. He hated running.

The back of the limousine was still in view as Casey turned the corner. His first shot missed the car entirely. The second hit the rear bumper. The third went lower, and must have hit the gas tank.

Casey watched the explosion in silence. He didn't regret the loss of life, but he would have liked to have the chance to interrogate Iselin himself. Still, not a total loss. Any day that ended with one fewer Ring agent was a good day in John Casey's book.

* * *

It took a great deal of cajoling and a promise to return as soon as he could, but Chuck finally convinced his sister to let him postpone his bloodletting in order to check on Sarah. It had been a few minutes, but even though he knew she was an experienced agent, the usual gnawing worries had made him antsy. A quick perimeter check of the community center made it clear that she wasn't outside. He quietly returned, and scouted the surroundings.

If Barnes and his partner had left, it was news to the crowd of paparazzi still wandering around inside. Giving each of them a once-over, Chuck's eyes stopped on one man he recognized. The man frowned as he looked up to see Chuck approaching him. "Not you again," he moaned.

"Good to see you again too, Steve. You must be here for Chance."

"No thanks to you. I missed out last night. Not a dime's worth of footage." His eyes narrowed. "Why are you here? You following me?"

"Actually, no. I'm just here giving blood." Chuck gave the center another quick glance before turning back to the hopeful filmmaker. "You wouldn't happen to have seen my wife, would you?"

Steve smirked. "She left you, huh? Figured it was just a matter of time." Seeing Chuck's expression, he quickly added, "No, I haven't seen her."

Chuck nodded, and hurried away. The center wasn't large, but there was enough bustle going on to make it hard to spot anyone. He could see his sister moving rapidly between the sign-in area and the beds where Hannah and Morgan currently were. No Sarah, however, and no Ring agents.

Moving over to the corner of the center, he paused when he saw a shadow underneath a door. Looking more closely, he realized it wasn't a shadow, but a trickle of blood. Ignoring his rapidly beating heart, he opened the door.

The sight inside the room made Chuck's blood curdle. Sarah was lying on the ground, surrounded by a puddle of blood. A second body lay further to the side. Two figures stood over Sarah, one recognizable as 'Shane Chance', the second a woman dressed in a nurse's uniform. The woman held a large needle which was at that moment slowly moving towards Sarah. The needle stopped its descent as Chuck entered, and both Ring agents turned to face him.

Shane Chance aka Michael Barnes smiled. "Mr. Carmichael. You're just in time."

Chuck stared for a moment before the scene in front of him dissolved as the Intersect took over his brain. A moment later, he lunged towards his two foes.

* * *

Hannah looked over to see Morgan on the bed next to her, an odd expression on his face. "Morgan, are you alright? Are you in pain?"

Morgan shook his head. "No, not at all, actually. I just thought I heard something."

"You mean, besides the motivational music?" One of Ellie's decisions as chair of the blood drive was that music would increase both the enthusiasm and the heart rates of the donors. At the moment, 'Eye of the Tiger' was blaring from a nearby speaker.

"No. It was something else. Kind of a crashing sound or something. Oh well," Morgan shrugged. A moment later, another thought grabbed hold of his brain. "So were you serious back there? This is really a date?"

"A pretty unconventional one, I guess, but yeah. Why, is that a problem?"

"Uh, no. Not if Chuck's ok with it."

"That's not really up to Chuck anymore, is it? He had his chance. It's nice of you to be worried about him, though."

"He's seen me through a lot."

Hannah nodded, then smiled up at Morgan. "So…I trust you're interested?"

Morgan looked back at Hannah. He was feeling a little faint, but he didn't think it had anything to do with the rapidly growing pouch of blood at the side of the bed. "Yeah. I'm interested." He reached over and grabbed Hannah's hand.

* * *

The Intersect had done its job. Both Ring agents were lying face-down on the ground. Chuck was in no mood to savor his victory, though, and quickly hurried over to Sarah. He touched her shoulder, and she stirred.

"Oh thank God! You're alive!"

Sarah looked around at the room, then gave Chuck a quick smile. "Not my blood. It's from the cooler." She nodded over at the ice chest lying on the ground.

"Then you weren't stabbed?"

"No. They tried to strangle me with the plastic tubing, but I'll be ok." She pushed herself to her feet. Chuck saw her freeze, then turned around to see the gun pointed at him.

"The kung fu was impressive," Barnes admitted. "I'll give you that. But having a gun comes in handy."

"Backup's on the way," Sarah said, hands raised. "You won't get far."

"Maybe not. But it's easy enough to cause a scene when you're 'Shane Chance.' One word and everyone just seems to flock to me. Will your agents fire into a crowd just to get me?" Barnes smiled as he moved closer to Chuck and Sarah.

"Mike?"

The voice was faint. The woman was struggling to her feet, the needle now stuck into her thigh. "Mike. I need the antidote."

Barnes paused for a moment, but didn't turn to look at her.

"Mike, please."

Barnes reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small vial. He pulled out the stopper. Then, he turned the vial around, letting the liquid inside fall to the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"We made a fine team, you and I. For a while. But you know, between all the time we've spent working together, the TV cameras constantly in our face, and your _constant nagging_, I've come to realize that we should take some time off. I hope you understand." He flashed a cold smile. "Besides, it will be nice not to have to split a payday."

"You think you can do this on your own?" the woman said, her voice weakening. "All of the planning, working with the Ring, the cleaning up. I…I've been carrying you for years. I even have to do the killing most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Barnes protested, still keeping his eyes on Chuck and Sarah. "Are you kidding? Ok, that female producer of Iselin's was yours, and that couple in Borneo, but that's it."

"There was Caul."

"Caul was me, remember? No, I think this is for the best. The good news is I'll give you credit for these two as your final kills. Ok, maybe just the woman. Karate boy is going on my ledger."

Still watching Chuck and Sarah, Barnes didn't notice when 'Veronica' grabbed the knife and shoved it into Barnes's leg. Howling in pain, he kicked at her, knocking her down again. With his attention finally turned away, Chuck moved towards him. Sarah was quicker though, and swatted the gun out of Barnes's hand. He turned to swing at her, but slipped on the puddle of blood and fell over, his head hitting the ground in a sickening thud.

"Is he…" Chuck asked as Sarah kneeled down to check Barnes's pulse.

"Dead. Both of them."

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that was disturbing. Guess they were more like 'Sheronica' then they realized." He studied the scene. "How are we going to clean this up?"

"The CIA can handle this. But we'd better get out before somebody connects us to all of this."

They quietly slipped out of the room and headed back to the entrance. Seeing Sarah was still covered in the spilled blood, Chuck ran ahead and found a coat lying in a corner and gave it to her. She gave him a smile as she put it on.

"Now what?"

"Well, we've done what we can. I think it's time we find somebody to discover the bodies."

Chuck looked over at the crowd still assembled by the entrance. "I think I know just the guy."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"You're sure?" Beckman practically barked into the phone.

"Yes, General. We examined the scene thoroughly. Based on Colonel Casey's description of what happened, there's no way that the bullet could have caused the limousine to explode."

Beckman sighed. She hated loose ends. "And the bodies?"

"There were three bodies, including the agent that the Colonel shot outside the car. But we don't have dental records to confirm whether one of the bodies was Iselin or not."

"Damn it. Keep looking into it. I want to know for sure whether we've got him." The General shut off the phone and reluctantly opened the door to head into the meeting.

She was the last person to arrive in the room. Several other men and women, all in uniform, sat around a large conference table waiting expectantly. A few of them looked up and gave Beckman a nod of recognition as she entered. She found an empty chair and sat down.

A few moments later, a man at the end of the table stood up and walked to the front of the room. Beckman immediately recognized her colleague General Ackerman. She kept her snort of disapproval to herself, but subtly glanced at her watch. She didn't have time for this.

"By now, I'm sure you are all aware of the issues that led to the cancellation of Project Outsource. Let me all assure you that no sensitive information has been lost. To guard against future breaches, all data analysis tasks will once again be done in-house by the CIA and NSA."

There were a few mutterings of relief from around the room.

"However, we still have the issue of the increasing difficulty with recruitment. While our dealings with the 'reality television' industry did not pay off, we do feel that we were on the right track. So, with that in mind, let me introduce you to Mr. Kevin Motz."

A younger civilian in disturbingly long hair entered from a side door and walked to the table. General Ackerman headed over to the wall and dimmed the lights. The civilian pressed a remote and an image appeared on screen.

Beckman studied the image with skepticism. Several smiling men and women, each appearing to be about 18-years-old were seated outdoors, surrounding a campfire. Each person was clean-cut and gave off a non-threatening air, and every one of them was dressed in various combinations of red, white, and blue. One of the young men was strumming a guitar.

"May I present to you 'Summer Camp Sing-along.' It's a song-and-dance extravaganza about several young men and women spending a summer together and learning about what is important."

"Sacrificing one's own uniqueness to be part of a group," General Ackerman chimed in. Beckman noticed that Motz looked a bit ill-at-ease as this was said.

"This movie is the perfect way to reach our younger generation. Studies have shown that today's young people respond very favorably to musicals. And with the right messages planted within, we feel that recruitment among our armed forces and agencies will experience a large increase in, oh, 7 years or so, when the target audience comes of age."

"And, there are several synergistic opportunities available. With enough online sales of the movies' songs, we may actually be able to pay for the armor our boys in Afghanistan have been needing."

Beckman noticed that a few of the other members of the meeting were now nodding their heads.

Motz looked around at the various people in the room. "Uh, does anyone have any questions?"

A woman seated at the front of the table spoke up. "How can we be sure that this project will have the desired effect."

"Well," Motz said, "I think my box office track record speaks for itself…"

"We will also be sure to include the necessary subliminal messages to amplify our message," Ackerman interrupted.

General Bainsborough, a man that Beckman had long respected, spoke up next. "How can we be sure that the Ring or some other group, doesn't co-opt this movie for their own recruitment purposes?" He gave Motz a distrustful look as he asked this.

"We will have agents present on set and in all aspects of the filmmaking." Motz looked a bit unhappy with Ackerman's response.

Another man spoke up. "Will the movie be in 3-D?"

"No." Motz replied.

"Yes." Ackerman replied.

Another man asked, "Will the young fellow from 'Twilight' be in the movie?"

At this point, Beckman decided she'd had enough, and stood up.

"General Beckman? Where are you going?" she heard General Ackerman protest as the door shut behind her.

* * *

"_Welcome back to 'Entertainment Access.' Of course our top story tonight is the bizarre deaths of Shane Chance and Veronica Medeski. Their bodies, along with that of another unidentified woman, were found at a Burbank blood drive in an apparent murder/suicide. This, along with the fatal car crash that took the life of producer Mark Iselin, has left the television world shocked and confused. In a few minutes we will dissect each and every one of Shane and Veronica's televised fights with renowned television psychologist Dr. Dave Cumberland. But first, we will have more of our exclusive interview with the man who found the bodies, upcoming filmmaker Steven Oakley, including glimpses of the pictures he took of the crime scene._"

"I've got to hand it to the CIA, they sure know how to stage a scene," Chuck commented from his seat on the couch.

"Well it's hard to cover up the deaths of two celebrities," Sarah said from her seat beside him, "so we had to come up with a story that people would believe. It turns out, that wasn't very hard."

"Yeah, well, Ellie wasn't too thrilled about her brief glimpse of fame." She had been interviewed several times after the discovery of the bodies had led to the closing of the blood drive.

"Is she going to be able to have a makeup date for the drive?"

"Yeah, next week," Chuck replied. "With all the notoriety, they're expecting a record turnout."

They turned back to the TV, which now showed Steve being interviewed. _"So, tell us about your upcoming movie."_

"_Well, it's a story about the fleeting nature of life. I've received bids from several studios already, and we're going to start casting for the female lead in the next few days. So we encourage any and all actresses to attend – if they're comfortable with tasteful nudity."_

"So are you disappointed that we won't get our chance to be on TV?" Sarah asked Chuck after turning down the sound. They had been contacted by Tracy the day before, who had informed them that with Iselin's death and Schumacher decision to retire from producing, the plug on "The Honeymoon's Over" had been permanently pulled.

"Not really. I'll stick to the usual level of surveillance, thank you very much."

Sarah smiled, then looked around. "Hey, speaking of surveillance, it's awfully quiet around here. Where's Morgan?"

"Oh, he's on a date with Hannah."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Really? So they really are together?"

"Yeah. They seem to be going pretty great for them, actually. Morgan keeps asking if you and I would go on a double-date with them." Seeing Sarah's expression, he added, "Yeah, that was my reaction too."

They sat on the couch for a few moments before Chuck turned back to her. "Besides, don't you think you and I should go on a single-date first?"

"Chuck…"

"Sarah, if there's one thing this mission, our undercover marriage, has told me is that deep down we both know we belong together. Even if we find our selves fighting like the Carmichaels sometimes, it still makes more sense than…whatever it is we are now."

Sarah glanced back at the TV for a moment, before turning back to Chuck. "And Beckman?"

Chuck shrugged. "I'm an agent now, not your asset. And besides, for all her rules and regulations, I sometimes wonder if she'd really care. For all we know she might lecture us for a moment and then say, 'Off the record, it's about time.'"

Sarah gave him an amused look. "Beckman would never say that."

"Maybe not. But isn't it worth it. Sarah, if you can honestly tell me that I'm wrong, and this isn't something you want, then we'll forget I brought it up."

Sarah gave Chuck a piercing look. "You're right, Chuck." She smiled. "Of course it's something I want." She leaned in and gave him a quick, but deep, kiss. "But we have to take things slow," she said after releasing him.

"So no running off to Europe together?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "No."

"No moving in together after going out for a week?"

"No."

"Ok. I promise. And you know I won't pressure into…sleeping together."

Sarah's lips curled into a smile. "Oh no, you'd better do that. But not tonight. If you don't mind, I'm kind of tired and want to stay in tonight. With you." She touched his hand briefly, and smiled at him.

"Oh." Chuck looked at her for a moment before smiling. "So, you wanna watch a movie?"

"Actually, I've got something better." Sarah reached into her bag and produced a DVD. "When we were cleaning up all of the evidence at Schumacher's studio, I managed to get a hold of this."

Chuck looked confused. "What is it?"

"This is Casey's 'Single Girl' audition."

Chuck stared at the disc. "His audition. The one the woman said brought a tear to her eye?"

"The very same."

"I'll get some popcorn."

**End**

**

* * *

**

_And so comes to an end what is probably the most uneven story I've written here. I probably should have planned things out a bit more at the beginning, and I think I got in trouble when everything going on on the show when I started the story changed as I kept working on it._

_Still, I hope everybody enjoyed the story. And please, go ahead and review and let me have it._


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